Weber State University Athletics
Friday, September 30
Pocatello, ID
7:00 PM
Weber State University
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Idaho State
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Weber St.
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Idaho St.
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Photo by: Robert Casey
Cardiac 'Cats Come Through in the Clutch, Beat Bengals in Five
9/30/2022 10:37:00 PM | Women's Volleyball
POCATELLO, Idaho – The Weber State Wildcat volleyball, otherwise known as the Cardiac 'Cats, defeated the Idaho State Bengals 3-2 (25-20, 16-25, 19-25, 25-22, 15-10) in another white-knuckle thriller.
The Wildcats came out of the gates a little slow and allowed ISU a six-point lead on several occasions throughout the first, but a six-point run gave Weber State a 17-16 advantage, and later the Wildcats rattled off another four consecutive points to extend their lead to 22-18. Idaho State never recovered and the 'Cats took set one.
Weber State took a quick lead in the second set, but Idaho State couldn't be stopped. The Bengals had two separate five-point runs in addition to scoring four straight points on another occasion, and ISU cruised to a 25-16 set victory to tie the match.
The Bengal momentum continued in the third frame. ISU got out to a 9-0 lead to start the third and never looked back. The Wildcats fought and made it look respectable, but ultimately fell to ISU 19-25 and were on the verge of dropping the match.
Things took a turn for the better for the purple and white in the fourth. Idaho State had a 13-9 lead at one point in the set, but Weber State never gave up. A Dani Richins kill saw the Wildcat deficit shrink to a single point at 17-16, and Idaho State tallied the next two points to make it a three-point advantage. Following a timeout from Jeremiah Larsen, Ashley Gneiting crushed a pair of kills followed by a Baylee Bodily ace to knot the set at 19 each. WSU scored the next three points off of ISU errors and another Gneiting kill to take control of the set and ended up stealing the fourth set by three points.
To a fifth and deciding set the teams went, and it was all Wildcats from the first serve. Weber State took the first four points highlighted by a Charli Bouquet – a sign of things to come – and would later extend its lead to five points after another Gneiting kill made it 10-5. With things coming down to crunch time and WSU holding a 13-10 lead, it was Bouquet, seemingly always making plays from the service line in the fifth set, who hit a sinking float serve that dropped for an ace to move the 'Cats to match point. The following point ended up in the capable hands of Kate Standifird who dished a dime to Emma Mangum on the right side, and the Cardiac 'Cats had completed the comeback. Weber State (8-6, 2-1) took the match and finished off yet another comeback victory.
NOTABLES
-Brielle Rueckert, who only played the final three sets, set a career high of 10 kills on 13 swings with no errors for an astonishing .769 hitting percentage.
-Another match, another career high in assists for Standifird. The Professor finished the match with 51 assists and 18 digs to give her the double double. Standifird also had an unbelievable 5 solo blocks and a block assist.
-Bodily and Richins finished with 11 kills each to lead the Wildcats. Richins notched another double double with 16 digs, Bodily ended the night with a .364 hitting percentage to continue an impressive stretch of offensive matches.
-Bouquet wonderful night included a career-high two services aces, both of which came in the fifth set, and a career-high with 12 digs.
-The win gives Weber State seven consecutive victories over Idaho State, and gives the Wildcats a 51-50 advantage in the overall series.
QUOTABLES
"The ISU student section told me to make changes all day and I finally listened to them. So, we made a change and Ashley Gneiting played great. So I want to credit the win to the ISU student section for helping me realize that we need to make some changes out there." – Jeremiah Larsen
"I think that by the end of the fourth set and in the fifth set we really started playing with a lot more intensity and we were really just a different team. We were using our full potential. The fifth set was super fun because we were playing really different than we had been in the previous sets." – Brielle Rueckert
"Throughout the game it was kind of up and down like we had talked about in the locker room a lot. It was kind of like a roller coaster of how we competed, but we came through in the bottom half of the fourth set and the fifth set, so in the end we got the win that we were looking for, but we need to be more consistent in competing. […] There's nothing really special (about serving in the fifth set), my teammates support is all that really matters to me. Before that last serve, Jayda Tupea was on the sidelines yelling, 'Ace! Ace! Ace' and that's all I hear, so ace it is. That's the only thing I can do. – Charli Bouquet
UP NEXT
Weber State continues its road stretch by heading to Cheney, Washington to take on the Eastern Washington Eagles on Thursday, October 6 at 7 PM MT, followed by a match against the Idaho Vandals on Saturday, October 8 at 2 PM MT in Moscow, Idaho.
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 Wildcats came out of the gates a little slow and allowed ISU a six-point lead on several occasions throughout the first, but a six-point run gave Weber State a 17-16 advantage, and later the Wildcats rattled off another four consecutive points to extend their lead to 22-18. Idaho State never recovered and the 'Cats took set one.
Weber State took a quick lead in the second set, but Idaho State couldn't be stopped. The Bengals had two separate five-point runs in addition to scoring four straight points on another occasion, and ISU cruised to a 25-16 set victory to tie the match.
The Bengal momentum continued in the third frame. ISU got out to a 9-0 lead to start the third and never looked back. The Wildcats fought and made it look respectable, but ultimately fell to ISU 19-25 and were on the verge of dropping the match.
Things took a turn for the better for the purple and white in the fourth. Idaho State had a 13-9 lead at one point in the set, but Weber State never gave up. A Dani Richins kill saw the Wildcat deficit shrink to a single point at 17-16, and Idaho State tallied the next two points to make it a three-point advantage. Following a timeout from Jeremiah Larsen, Ashley Gneiting crushed a pair of kills followed by a Baylee Bodily ace to knot the set at 19 each. WSU scored the next three points off of ISU errors and another Gneiting kill to take control of the set and ended up stealing the fourth set by three points.
To a fifth and deciding set the teams went, and it was all Wildcats from the first serve. Weber State took the first four points highlighted by a Charli Bouquet – a sign of things to come – and would later extend its lead to five points after another Gneiting kill made it 10-5. With things coming down to crunch time and WSU holding a 13-10 lead, it was Bouquet, seemingly always making plays from the service line in the fifth set, who hit a sinking float serve that dropped for an ace to move the 'Cats to match point. The following point ended up in the capable hands of Kate Standifird who dished a dime to Emma Mangum on the right side, and the Cardiac 'Cats had completed the comeback. Weber State (8-6, 2-1) took the match and finished off yet another comeback victory.
NOTABLES
-Brielle Rueckert, who only played the final three sets, set a career high of 10 kills on 13 swings with no errors for an astonishing .769 hitting percentage.
-Another match, another career high in assists for Standifird. The Professor finished the match with 51 assists and 18 digs to give her the double double. Standifird also had an unbelievable 5 solo blocks and a block assist.
-Bodily and Richins finished with 11 kills each to lead the Wildcats. Richins notched another double double with 16 digs, Bodily ended the night with a .364 hitting percentage to continue an impressive stretch of offensive matches.
-Bouquet wonderful night included a career-high two services aces, both of which came in the fifth set, and a career-high with 12 digs.
-The win gives Weber State seven consecutive victories over Idaho State, and gives the Wildcats a 51-50 advantage in the overall series.
QUOTABLES
"The ISU student section told me to make changes all day and I finally listened to them. So, we made a change and Ashley Gneiting played great. So I want to credit the win to the ISU student section for helping me realize that we need to make some changes out there." – Jeremiah Larsen
"I think that by the end of the fourth set and in the fifth set we really started playing with a lot more intensity and we were really just a different team. We were using our full potential. The fifth set was super fun because we were playing really different than we had been in the previous sets." – Brielle Rueckert
"Throughout the game it was kind of up and down like we had talked about in the locker room a lot. It was kind of like a roller coaster of how we competed, but we came through in the bottom half of the fourth set and the fifth set, so in the end we got the win that we were looking for, but we need to be more consistent in competing. […] There's nothing really special (about serving in the fifth set), my teammates support is all that really matters to me. Before that last serve, Jayda Tupea was on the sidelines yelling, 'Ace! Ace! Ace' and that's all I hear, so ace it is. That's the only thing I can do. – Charli Bouquet
UP NEXT
Weber State continues its road stretch by heading to Cheney, Washington to take on the Eastern Washington Eagles on Thursday, October 6 at 7 PM MT, followed by a match against the Idaho Vandals on Saturday, October 8 at 2 PM MT in Moscow, Idaho.
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
Weber
ISU
Kills
59
60
Errors
29
25
Attempts
195
171
Hitting %
.154
.205
Points
77
79
Assists
55
59
Aces
6
7
Blocks
12
12
Game Leaders
Kills
11
Aces
1
Blocks
1
Kills
11
Aces
1
Blocks
2
Kills
10
Aces
2
Blocks
4
Kills
10
Aces
0
Blocks
0
Players Mentioned
MB
/ Women's Volleyball
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/ Women's VolleyballOPP
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/ Women's VolleyballMB
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/ Women's VolleyballWeber State vs. Portland State
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Weber State Volleyball In-Depth | Episode 18: Kaylie Ray
Wednesday, October 08
Weber State Volleyball In-Depth | Episode 17: Jayda Tupea
Tuesday, October 07
Weber State vs. Idaho State | 10-3-25
Friday, October 03