The Idaho State volleyball team’s season came to an end Friday in the semifinals of the Big Sky Conference tournament. The No. 5 seeded Bengals lost to No. 1 Northern Arizona 3-0 (17-25, 15-25, 21-25) in Greeley, Colorado.

Idaho State finished its season 19-14, while NAU advanced to Saturday’s championships game with a 25-8 record.

“I think we had a great year,” Idaho State coach Rick Reynolds said. “We had a few things we needed to work on that showed itself in the preseason tournaments. We got better week in and week out. It is a process. The girls trusted that process and did a lot of great things. Overall, I am proud of this group and proud of our leaders. Haylie (Keck) and Abby (Garrity) did a great job leading us. At different times, we had great leadership all throughout the court.”

Idaho State hit .142 for the match, while the Lumberjacks finished with a hitting percentage of .252. Garrity led the Bengals with 11 kills, while Chelsea Johnson had 37 assists and Keck had 22 digs.

Idaho State jumped out to an early 6-2 lead in the first set following a kill by Raegan Steiner. The Bengals later held a 12-10 lead after a kill by Brooke Pehrson, but NAU then went on a run to out-score ISU 15-5 to earn the 25-17 Set 1 win.

The Bengals led 5-4 early in the second set, and trailed 10-9 following a kill by Garrity. Northern Arizona then went on a run to lead 18-11 and 20-12 to help seal the 25-15 win.

The Bengals had their best hitting percentage of the match in the final frame, hitting .263. The improved percentage helped spark Idaho State to a 15-12 lead after a service ace by Pehrson. The Bengals maintained a 17-16 lead when NAU went on a run to take the lead for good at 22-19.