POCATELLO - The Idaho State volleyball players trotted to their sideline and huddled around coach Chad Teichert.

The Bengals had just blistered the Weber State Wildcats with 15 kills to capture the first set, committing zero errors and hardly breaking a sweat along the way.

"For sure, it was too good to be true," Teichert said.

Well, those attack numbers were. But the Bengals proved their sizzling play was no fluke by overwhelming the Wildcats the rest of the way with a string of serve aces, blocks and, of course, more kills for a 25-17, 22-25, 25-17, 25-23 win on Thursday at Reed Gym.

The Bengals snapped their two-match losing streak and kept alive their hopes of making the Big Sky tournament.

"Everything we were doing was right," freshman setter Karissa Legaux said. "It's what we try to do every game, but we finally did it tonight. We got over a big hump."

It all began with Idaho State's offense. Both Bengals setters Blakely Peppinger and Legaux thrived on the back row's improved passing, and they surprised the Wildcats (14-11, 5-6 Big Sky) in the first set with quick, low sets to their middle blockers. Sarah Carson and Ashlyn McDowell converted those for a combined five kills.

The two setters ended up with 38 combined assists - 22 for Legaux and 16 for the senior Peppinger.

"It was just such a relief to finally come out so strong in the beginning and carry it on," McDowell said. "Usually we get a lead, and we kind of let down and get comfortable. It was nice to keep going and keep our intensity up."

Idaho State (6-17, 3-8) struggled through an error-riddled second set, but that, and not the previous set, proved to be the aberration.

The Bengals rebounded with a wire-to-wire win in the third set, much thanks to five service aces from different players and three blocks, two of them solo efforts by McDowell.

Idaho State turned to a different formula but got the same result in the clinching set. This time, the Bengals trailed early but stormed back, thanks to some inspiring play by freshman outside hitter Jaclyn Hone. The walk-on powered the Bengals during that span with four kills and four digs - including a couple of sensational ones that denied the Wildcats what looked like surefire points.

"Yeah, Jac," Legaux said. "She brings it every time. She always swings. She's aggressive, and that gets her a lot of kills."

The all-around performance so inspired McDowell she professed after the match that she was speechless from excitement.

At 3-8 in conference play, Idaho State remains next-to-last in the Big Sky standings, trailing seventh-place Weber State by two games and sixth-place Northern Arizona (5-5) by two-and-a-half for the final conference tournament spot.

But McDowell said their previous games are a thing of the past. Thursday's edition of the Bengals? Now that's what they expect to see on the court for the remaining five conference matches.

"Everything was on," McDowell said. "It was just a relief to have everything meshing, especially toward the end of the season is when we need to be doing well. It's really good that it's finally happening for us."