Weber State University Athletics
Thursday, November 3
Ogden
6:00 PM
Weber State University
14-8,8-3Big Sky
3
vs
0
Idaho
4-19,1-10Big Sky
1
2
3
F
Idaho
18
21
22
0
Weber St.
25
25
25
3
Photo by: Bayleigh Schroeder/Weber State Athletics
Wildcats Complete Season Sweep Over Idaho
11/3/2022 9:09:00 PM | Women's Volleyball
OGDEN, Utah – Weber State volleyball returned to its winning ways with a 3-0 (25-18, 25-21, 25-22) sweep over the Idaho Vandals on Thursday evening.
The Wildcat offense had one of its best offensive sets of the season to open the match. WSU held a narrow 11-10 advantage, but a Brielle Rueckert kill kick started a four-point run to extend the Wildcat edge up to five points at the media timeout. Shortly thereafter, WSU rattled off four more points in a row – capped by a kill from "The Professor" Kate Standifird – to extend its lead to 19-11 and truly seize control and momentum in the set. Weber State hit .471 in the first set and carried the set by a score of 25-18.
Things slowed a bit for the 'Cats in the following set, however. The count was knotted up at eight in the early portions of the set, but the Wildcats scored on 9 of the following 11 points, highlighted by a pair of kills from Dani Richins and Rueckert. The Vandals fought valiantly to make things competitive, but the Wildcat defense held true and Weber State took a 2-0 lead into what ended up being the deciding set.
Idaho appeared poised to take the third set with a 19-16 lead, but a crazy turn of events turned the tides in favor of the Wildcats. Richins came through with a monster swing to narrow the gap to a pair of points, and Idaho Head Coach Chris Gonzalez saw a rare red card for an illegal substitution. The penalty for such an infraction: a point to Weber State.
What was a three-point deficit was shaved down to a single point, and that seemed to jump start the Wildcat offense. Following a break in play during which the infraction was being debated, Weber State tallied four consecutive points to take a 22-19 lead. Idaho matched the score at 22-22, but Weber State closed out the sweep with a Richins kill, a Baylee Bodily ace, and clinched the sweep with another big swing in the middle from Rueckert.
Weber State (14-8, 8-3) gets back in the win column and notches a victory over Idaho (4-19, 1-10) for the fourth straight time.
NOTABLES
-Weber State has now won eight of its last ten matches.
-A 3-0 victory over Idaho gives Weber State its sixth sweep of the season, and the Wildcats sweep the season series over Idaho.
-Richins had one of her most efficient matches of the season with 13 kills on 28 swings for a .393 hitting percentage.
-With nine digs on the evening, Richins is rapidly closing in on 1,000 career digs and is currently at 959 for her storied career.
-Weber State held a .243-.149 lead in hitting percentage, and served five aces in comparison to Idaho's three.
-The Big Sky Conference leader in hitting percentage, Rueckert, had another unbelievable offensive match. Her 10 kills match a season high that she set in Weber State's victory over Idaho State, and she did it while hitting a scorching .421.
-Standifird is the lone member of Thursday's double-double club with 29 assists and 11 digs, she also had a flawless 1.000 hitting percentage on six swings.
QUOTABLES
"A win is a win. We still have a lot of stuff to work on. We still have a lot of areas in our game that need some improving. I think every game is an opportunity to work on things we're working on in practice and keep having that mindset." – Dani Richins
"I mean we got a win, so that's always nice. It's not always about the wins. It's about the attitude in which we attack those wins and attack the game, and I don't think we did a very good job of maintaining any level of intensity and focus to be really excited about getting in the win column. […] Thank heavens for Dani and Brielle Rueckert and Kate who had a bunch of kills. Dani put us on her shoulders like I know that she can and we just have to keep on building on that so she can keep building confidence in herself and be the Dani that we know she is." – Jeremiah Larsen
UP NEXT
Weber State will be back at home on Saturday, November 5 at 6:00 to try to finish off the season sweep of the Eastern Washington Eagles.
All regular season and postseason home and Big Sky Conference matches can be seen on ESPN+.
TICKETS
Season and single match tickets are on sale and can be purchased online or by calling the Weber State ticket office at 801-626-8500.
SOCIAL MEDIA
Make sure to follow Weber State volleyball on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and Twitter to stay up to date with everything happening with the Wildcats.
The Wildcat offense had one of its best offensive sets of the season to open the match. WSU held a narrow 11-10 advantage, but a Brielle Rueckert kill kick started a four-point run to extend the Wildcat edge up to five points at the media timeout. Shortly thereafter, WSU rattled off four more points in a row – capped by a kill from "The Professor" Kate Standifird – to extend its lead to 19-11 and truly seize control and momentum in the set. Weber State hit .471 in the first set and carried the set by a score of 25-18.
Things slowed a bit for the 'Cats in the following set, however. The count was knotted up at eight in the early portions of the set, but the Wildcats scored on 9 of the following 11 points, highlighted by a pair of kills from Dani Richins and Rueckert. The Vandals fought valiantly to make things competitive, but the Wildcat defense held true and Weber State took a 2-0 lead into what ended up being the deciding set.
Idaho appeared poised to take the third set with a 19-16 lead, but a crazy turn of events turned the tides in favor of the Wildcats. Richins came through with a monster swing to narrow the gap to a pair of points, and Idaho Head Coach Chris Gonzalez saw a rare red card for an illegal substitution. The penalty for such an infraction: a point to Weber State.
What was a three-point deficit was shaved down to a single point, and that seemed to jump start the Wildcat offense. Following a break in play during which the infraction was being debated, Weber State tallied four consecutive points to take a 22-19 lead. Idaho matched the score at 22-22, but Weber State closed out the sweep with a Richins kill, a Baylee Bodily ace, and clinched the sweep with another big swing in the middle from Rueckert.
Weber State (14-8, 8-3) gets back in the win column and notches a victory over Idaho (4-19, 1-10) for the fourth straight time.
NOTABLES
-Weber State has now won eight of its last ten matches.
-A 3-0 victory over Idaho gives Weber State its sixth sweep of the season, and the Wildcats sweep the season series over Idaho.
-Richins had one of her most efficient matches of the season with 13 kills on 28 swings for a .393 hitting percentage.
-With nine digs on the evening, Richins is rapidly closing in on 1,000 career digs and is currently at 959 for her storied career.
-Weber State held a .243-.149 lead in hitting percentage, and served five aces in comparison to Idaho's three.
-The Big Sky Conference leader in hitting percentage, Rueckert, had another unbelievable offensive match. Her 10 kills match a season high that she set in Weber State's victory over Idaho State, and she did it while hitting a scorching .421.
-Standifird is the lone member of Thursday's double-double club with 29 assists and 11 digs, she also had a flawless 1.000 hitting percentage on six swings.
QUOTABLES
"A win is a win. We still have a lot of stuff to work on. We still have a lot of areas in our game that need some improving. I think every game is an opportunity to work on things we're working on in practice and keep having that mindset." – Dani Richins
"I mean we got a win, so that's always nice. It's not always about the wins. It's about the attitude in which we attack those wins and attack the game, and I don't think we did a very good job of maintaining any level of intensity and focus to be really excited about getting in the win column. […] Thank heavens for Dani and Brielle Rueckert and Kate who had a bunch of kills. Dani put us on her shoulders like I know that she can and we just have to keep on building on that so she can keep building confidence in herself and be the Dani that we know she is." – Jeremiah Larsen
UP NEXT
Weber State will be back at home on Saturday, November 5 at 6:00 to try to finish off the season sweep of the Eastern Washington Eagles.
All regular season and postseason home and Big Sky Conference matches can be seen on ESPN+.
TICKETS
Season and single match tickets are on sale and can be purchased online or by calling the Weber State ticket office at 801-626-8500.
SOCIAL MEDIA
Make sure to follow Weber State volleyball on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and Twitter to stay up to date with everything happening with the Wildcats.
Team Stats
UI
Weber
Kills
33
41
Errors
18
16
Attempts
101
103
Hitting %
.149
.243
Points
44
52
Assists
31
37
Aces
3
5
Blocks
8
6
Game Leaders
Kills
13
Aces
1
Blocks
1
Kills
10
Aces
0
Blocks
1
Kills
6
Aces
0
Blocks
1
Kills
6
Aces
1
Blocks
3
Players Mentioned
MB
/ Women's VolleyballS
/ Women's VolleyballOH
/ Women's VolleyballMB
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