Honolulu, Hawaii - The University of Nevada (12-15) volleyball team was eliminated in the first round of the 2008 Western Athletic Conference Tournament by the University of Idaho (19-9) at the Stan Sheriff Center on the campus of the University of Hawai`i in Honolulu, Hawaii today. In the match up of the sixth seeded Wolf Pack and the third seeded Vandals the Pack lost by scores of 25-20, 25-21 and 25-18 leaving them 12-15 on the season while the Vandals improved to 19-9.
With the score tied at 12-12 in the first set Idaho scored the next four points to move in front 16-12 but the Pack rallied to close within a point at 20-19. The Vandals responded by closing out the set with a 5-1 run to win 25-20. The Pack hit .256 in set one and Idaho was close behind with a .250 attack percentage.
Nevada led the second set by three points at 9-6 but UI put together a 7-1 run to move in front for good 13-10. The Pack could get no closer than a point the rest of the set as the Vandals won 25-21 to take a 2-0 set advantage in the match. In set two the Vandals hit .206 and held Nevada to a .116 attack percentage.
In set three UI broke a 10-10 tie with a 5-1 run and led a 15-11 on the way to the 25-18 victory and 3-0 match win. Offensively the Pack hit just .118 and the Vandals had their best hitting set of the match at .289.
Senior Allison Hernandez posted a match-high 13 kills to lead the Pack while sophomore Lindsay Baldwin added eight. Junior setter Sonnie Sei dished out 27 assists in the match and sophomore libero Nicole Link finished with a match-high 15 digs.
Sarah Conwell and Haley Larsen totaled 12 and 10 kills respectively for the Vandals. Setter Kelsy James recorded a match-high 37 assists and Sarah Loney led UI with nine digs.
Idaho hit .250 in the match and Nevada .164. The Vandals held a slim 9 to 7.5 blocking advantage. Baldwin had four blocks to top the Pack and Kelsey Taylor posted a match-high five for UI.
Nevada will end its season next weekend competing at the Bankers Classic in Stockton, Calif. The Pack take on Utah on Friday night and either Portland or the host Pacific Tigers Saturday depending on the results of the first days results.
