The Duke of Wellington's Report from Provo, Utah

And now to our correspondent, the Duke of Wellington

Hello and good day to all! I certainly hope we are enjoying this 3-day weekend away from our schooling and other dozens of life's important details to turn our eyes to the battle front in Provo, Utah (a place far worse than St. Helena, where my nemesis Napoleon was sent) where our brave Royal Orange Fusiliers of the Black under Leutnantgeneral Chad Teichert engaged in combat with splendid effort. I shall now break them down posthaste, by game. You may find the devilish details and such at the Idaho State Athletics websites. Merely click on the right side of the page where it says "Volleyball" and find the correct headlines!

Against Cal Poly

First off, our breakdown of Cal Poly merits a rousing victory march, for it was a victory!



Victory!

We won against Cal Poly, 3-1! The sets were as follows: (26-28, 25-23, 25-22, 25-23). We lost the first game in a tight one and then roared back for 3 straight victories, all of them hard-fought!

Notable Players

In a simple breakdown, there were 5 key players in the win: Jennika Wright (12 kills, .429 attack percentage), Jaclyn Hone (12 kills, 13 digs), Sarah Carson (12 kills, .370 hitting percentage, 4 block assists, and an incredible 3 aces!) and Britta Bartschi-Rhodehouse (11 kills from 26 attacks and 3 errors, .308 hitting percentage). Jenna Proost had 16 digs at libero.

Grinding Them Down

Our brave Fusiliers gradually reduced Cal Poly's attack percentages over the match, where the Mustangs were hitting at .306 and ended up at a nadir in a .083 hitting percentage. Great effort to minimize the attack, Fusiliers!

Against the Host, BYU

We dropped a heartbreaker to the Cougars, 15-17 in the final set. We dropped the first 2 sets, battled back with 2 straight, and lost that final one due to two horrendous calls in the end that gave BYU the opportunity to seal the deal. Our stats for that grueling but excellent effort: Hone had 10 kills and 15 digs; Lori Mendenhall posted 22 assists and 11 digs; Haylee Thompson-Brock led our attack with 23 kills; and Bartschi-Rhodehouse and Carson added 10 kills apiece. Karissa LeGeaux contributed with 26 assists and the team recorded 13 blocks at the net, showing a strong defense.

And against #2 Nebraska

Our Fusiliers fell, 3-0 against Nebraska after two great efforts against Cal Poly and BYU. Thompson-Brock led the team with 9 kills (Bartschi-Rhodehouse had 8 and Carson added 5) and sophomore Katie Grajewski led with 7 digs on the defensive side of the ball; LeGeaux, Breanne Van Every and Jaclyn Hone added 5 digs each. ISU still maintains a good record at 4-2.

ISU shall be home tomorrow for a few days rest before they are to be sent out to far away Des Moines, Iowa, to protect royal interests out in that far away land.

As for me, the Duke of Wellington, I am signing off at this tremendously late hour in order to be ready for the work day. I shall report from our next destination! Ta for now, all! And again, my personal congratulations to our Royal Orange Fusiliers of the Black for their wonderful efforts against very good competition!