The Idaho State volleyball team split its season-opening day with a 3-1 win against Albany and a 3-0 loss to Nebraska-Omaha on Friday in Omaha, Nebraska.

The Bengals went four sets with Albany, taking the first two sets 25-22 and 25-21, while dropping the third 26-24. Idaho State came back with a strong finish in the fourth set with a 25-13 win. Senior Haylie Keck led the Bengals with 20 kills, four aces, and a .333 attacking percentage to score a total of 24.5 points for the team. Sophomore Raegan Steiner followed with 11 kills while junior Chelsea Vaughan led the team in assists with 35.

Idaho State fell to Nebraska-Omaha 3-0 in the second match of the tournament. Keck led the team with eight kills, followed by senior Brooke Pehrson with seven kills and two blocks. Redshirt sophomore Kaia Rhodes recorded three blocks. Junior Chelsea Vaughan totaled 24 assists. Sophomore Mahala Bradburn had 15 digs.

"I liked the way we competed today," Bengals head coach Sammi Stuart said. "I think there are some things we need to improve on with regards to our process. Each play, each point, each match is mutually exclusive from the next, so you have to be dialed in on the play you're in. It seemed like we got caught up in the cognitive phase of the game instead of just playing simple volleyball. We learned a lot and have a short turnaround time. I look forward to competing tomorrow against Abilene Christian and see if we can hone our process a little better."Idaho State continues tournament play Saturday against Abilene Christian at 10 a.m. MDT.