Weber State University Athletics
Weber State University
Idaho State
Cox leads Wildcats past Bengals for first home win
10/28/2011 4:22:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
OGDEN, Utah - The Wildcats found their bite.
Led by a colossal effort by junior middle blocker Dama Cox, the Weber State University women's volleyball team rolled to its first home victory of the season, knocking off rival Idaho State 25-15, 21-25, 25-21, 25-20 at Swenson Gym on Thursday night.
"It was just a great team effort tonight," Weber State coach Tom Peterson said. "We had contributions from a lot of different players. I thought Dama played a great match tonight."
While Weber State (2-9 Big Sky, 2-21 overall) earned its second win in the last four matches, the Bengals dropped their third straight and fell to 5-6 in league play, 11-11 overall.
Cox had a career-high 14 kills and her 11 blocks, also a personal best, are the second-highest individual total in the Big Sky Conference this year. The Fernley, Nev.-native added a career-high four service aces, adding to her total of 25.0 individual points. That's tied for the fifth-highest in the league this season.
Junior outside hitter Bethany Wray reached double-figures kills for the 14th time this season, finishing with 13 kills, eight digs, two service aces and two blocks.
Sophomore outside hitter Briana Wilms had nine kills, hitting .467 on 15 attempts and had seven blocks, while redshirt-freshman Ashley Orr had eight blocks, matching her career-high.
Sophomore outside hitter Piper Wahlin also had a strong match, posting a season-high seven kills and four digs, while junior setter Caitlin Penrod had 37 assists and a career-high 12 digs.
As a team, Weber State rebounded from two sub-par blocking matches to finish Thursday night with 19.5 team blocks, the second-highest mark in the Big Sky this season behind the 20.5 the Wildcats posted against Sacramento State on Oct. 1.
With the match level at 1-1, the third set proved to be the critical turning point for the Wildcats.
It didn't start out that way though.
Weber State trailed 6-0 and 7-1 early, before rallying to cut into the deficit.
The Wildcats mounted several charges during the set, but each time the Bengals answered the bell and regained breathing room.
Finally, with Idaho State leading 20-17 and threatening to seize control of the match, Weber State burned off seven consecutive points to storm ahead 24-20, setting the stage for Cox to capture the set's 25 point and a 2-1 lead on a kill.
Deadlocked at 15-15 in the fourth set, Wilms, Wray and Penrod scored consecutive kills to put the Wildcats ahead 18-15.
Weber State lead 19-17 just a few moments later before a four-point surge, highlighted by back-to-back service aces by Wray, made it 23-17 and the Wildcats captured match point on a block by Wilms and Cox.
Weber State has eight days off before its next match, with the Wildcats set to take on Sacramento State on Friday, Nov. 4 in Sacramento, Calif.
