BOISE – Boise State was at an unexpected crossroads.
It was sitting at 2-6 – the Broncos’ worst start through eight games since 2009. But that team hasn’t been seen for weeks.
The Broncos continued their newfound momentum with a 25-15, 25-16, 25-18 sweep of Fresno State Thursday night at Bronco Gym. Boise State (8-7, 4-1 MW) has now won six of its last seven matches and is in a three-way tie for first play in the Mountain West standings.
“We had a couple injuries early that really shook us. It really took the wind out of our sails,” Boise State coach Shawn Garus said. “We rode the sorrows down with our injuries. We tried to battle back a little bit. But we were searching. Now we get into conference play, we’re certainly playing with momentum.
“Excited that the players have bounced back and continued to be tough through this tough time.”
The Broncos lost two starters after beginning the year with back-to-back wins over in-state rival Idaho State. And it all came to a head against Northern Arizona on Sept. 9. They won the opening set, but still lost in five to a Lumberjacks team that entered the match just 2-6. They’ve gone 1-5 since that upset and are just 4-11 on the season.
“It was our come to Jesus moment,” junior right side hitter Paige Bartsch said. “I think everyone knew that we were capable of so much more. I feel like the energy just kind of changed after that game. We came in and everybody was just ready to grind and work on themselves.”
Garrus reshuffled the lineup, which included moving Bartsch over to left side and making true freshman outside hitter Anabel Kotzakov a starter. The new mentality and moves worked.
The Broncos snapped the six-game losing streak with a straight set win over South Dakota State at their own Boise State Class on Sept. 15. They finished the non-conference schedule strong with a four-set win over Montana to finally give themselves some much-needed confidence heading into conference play.
Boise State rattled off three more wins over Colorado State, Wyoming and Air Force before running into a slight speed bump on the road against New Mexico last Saturday. But it proved to be only temporary Thursday.
The Broncos cruised through the first two sets against the Bulldogs (8-8, 2-3). They only trailed once at 7-6 in the second. But after four unanswered points, capped by a kill from sophomore setter Elle Cotton, Boise State didn’t let Fresno State get any closer than three the rest of the way.
“Our energy right now is pretty amazing. When we come out firing, we do really good things,” said fifth-year senior Noelani Helm who recorded a team-high 27 assists to go with six kills, two aces, six digs and one block. “The preseason was a little rough, yes, but from every single loss, we learned a lot. And now we’re just trying to move on to the next game and focus on how to get better, which I feel like is really showing now.”
Helm, who transferred in from the University of Portland where she was an All-West Coast Conference Honorable Mention selection last season, really helped put the game away for Boise State in the third set.
With the Broncos clinging to a 15-14 advantage, Helm fooled the entire Fresno State defense. She faked a set and delivered a kill all in one swift motion. Then on the very next serve, Helm somehow managed to dig out a ball with one hand no less to set up a Kotzakov kill. The heads up plays suddenly gave Boise State a 17-14 advantage and it never looked back. Helm even added an ace in the set for good measure.
“Sometimes you don’t really know what you’re getting with a fifth-year transfer, but she did a great job of coming in being a leader and just setting the tone,” Bartsch said. “She’s one of the really hard workers that was ready to grind when we lost those games.”
The 6-foot-4-inch Bartsch racked up 12 kills, 15 points, three blocks an ace. She entered the match being nationally ranked top-3 in five categories (points, points per set, kills per set, services aces and services aces per set.
“She’s been amazing,” Garus said. “In preseason she was a little bit down on how she was doing because she was looking at stats. I told her to stop looking at stats. And I truly believe she stopped looking at stats. She just played.
“She’s doing so much for our team. She’s serving great. She’s passing great. She’s blocking great and of course leading us in kills, night in and night out. Which means, she gets the other team’s attention night in and night out and she still finds a way.”
Kotzakov and senior middle blocker Annie Kaminski finished with nine kills apiece. Kaminski added a team-high five blocks. Sophomore libero Bella McGirr tallied a team-high 17 digs in her first career start at libero.
Boise State will continue its homestand with Nevada at noon Saturday and Utah State at 7 p.m. Tuesday.