BOISE — The first two matches of the Boise State Classic volleyball tournament were about as contradictory as you could get for Idaho State.

The Bengals pounded on UNLV of the Mountain West, taking down the Rebels three sets to one in the opener on Thursday. And then ISU collapsed offensively against North Dakota State of the Summit League, falling in straight sets in the second match on Friday.

That set up a completely unpredictable finale against host Boise State, a member of the newly reconstructed Pac-12 Conference, Saturday afternoon.

"Had no idea what team we would get in the Boise State match," said ISU head coach Sean Carter.

Carter and his staff decided to shake things up before the match with the Broncos, inserting opposite hitter Tana Howard and setter Kadence Marsh into the lineup. Both responded well in lifting ISU to a tense five-set victory over the Broncos.

"I think they both played well," Carter said of Howard, the 6-foot-2 junior from Gilbert, Arizona, who had 11 kills and three digs, and Marsh, a 6-foot sophomore from Windsor, Colorado, who had 48 assists and 19 digs. "Annie Wilson came off the bench to replace Mia Walsh, who struggled against the Broncos and we don't win if we don't have Annie attacking the way she did."

Wilson had 11 kills and 14 digs.

But the real star of the match, according to Carter, was Ava Brickner, the Boise native and graduate of Timberline High School. The 5-foot-10 junior outside hitter led the Bengals with 16 kills and 17.5 total points in the match.

The final tally in the first five-set match of the season for ISU was 18-25, 25-22, 25-21, 23-25, 15-12. There were 25 ties and nine lead changes in the match, which was played before 1,488 fans at BSU's ExtraMile Arena.

The win lifted ISU's season record to 4-2, and mirrored the Bengals' performance in the tournament at Wichita State last weekend, where ISU won the first and third matches of the tournament, only to get shut out in the middle match.

"We played great in our first match against the Rebels," Carter said of ISU's 30-28, 25-21, 29-31, 25-21 win over UNLV on Thursday. "Mia Walsh was the player of the match with 20 kills and 14 digs," said Carter of his true freshman outside hitter from Rexburg. "And we beat a very physical and powerful UNLV team."

The three-set, 25-22, 25-20, 25-18 drubbing by North Dakota State that followed was very similar to the experience ISU had against Missouri State the week before.

"We really struggled offensively," said Carter. "It seemed like we couldn't score at all. NDSU served great, passed great and was great defending our team."

Ironically, Boise State swept North Dakota State in straight sets before losing to Idaho State in the finale. The Broncos, Bison and Bengals all finished the tournament 2-1.

The only Bengal to make the all-tournament team was freshman libero Aspen Boice, a Rexburg native, who was honored "for her all-around stellar play over the three matches," said Carter.

The Bengals resume action in the Amy Svoboda Memorial Classic at the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs on Thursday. ISU plays Tennessee Tech at 4 p.m. Thursday, Little Rock at 4 p.m. Friday and the host Falcons at 1:30 p.m. on Saturday.