Where are they and when do they come home: checking in on Idaho State’s fall sports

POCATELLO — The Idaho State football team prepares to play its first home conference game of the season, while the volleyball team played its first home conference game last weekend. ISU’s soccer team opened its conference schedule last week, and the men’s and women’s tennis teams are in the midst of the fall season.

There’s a lot going on right now for fans of Bengal athletics.

Here is a quick roundup of ISU’s fall sports.

Return of the Pocatello roofing company

The Bengal volleyball team finished the 2024 season as one of three teams across the country to average more than three blocks per set. And the block, anchored by Jaydin Watts and Marci Bell, is back to its old tricks.

Idaho State’s 2.75 blocks per set thus far ranks the Bengals 20th in the nation. Like last year, head coach Sean Carter’s team is doing it with an undersized front line.

In 2024, Carter explained that the key to the Bengal block is athleticism and timing. Players like Bell (5-foot-9) and Watts (5-foot-11) rely on the team’s gamelan for positioning and their ability to jump out of the gym to tally the blocks they do.

Carter and the Bengals (4-10, 0-2) are coming off a second-place finish (21-10, 11-5) in the Big Sky Conference but have yet to secure a strong footing this season. They have been swept in both conference matches, at Portland State and at home against Northern Arizona.

ISU will return to Reed Gym on Oct. 9, when they host the Idaho Vandals for the Pink-Out game scheduled to start at 7 p.m.

A rivalry renewed, a kicker again rewarded

On the gridiron, the Bengals (2-3, 1-0) are riding the high and back-to-back wins, including a road conference victory last week at the University of Northern Colorado, and looking to add another when they host the Montana Grizz (4-0, 1-0).

ISU has suffered a pair of losses to Mountain West opponents UNLV and New Mexico, by a combined 17 points. But the Bengals broke up those two competitive matchups with FBS foes by losing by 22 points at Southern Utah.

So which team will show up Saturday when the Bengals play their first home conference game of the season?

One thing that is for sure, kicker Trajan Sinatra will be there, with his accurate right leg.

Sinatra was named the Big Sky Conference Special Teams Player of the Week for the third time this year last week, after connecting on all three field goal attempts. He is 9-for-9 on the season, including a long of 56 yards which leads all conference kickers.

Record-setting golf team to play in Montana as fall season nears conclusion

The ISU golf team, which set several program records in Bozeman, Mont., two weeks ago, will play at the University of Montana Sun Mountain Invitational next week before concluding the fall portion of their season at Oak Hill Country Club in Omaha, Neb., the following week.

Their season will resume in March, with the Big Sky Golf Championship scheduled for lat-April.

Bengals still on hunt for first conference win on pitch

ISU soccer has played a pair of conference games, battling Idaho to a scoreless tie at home on Thursday and losing 2-0 at Eastern Washington on Sunday.

The Bengals (3-5-3, 0-1-1) return to Davis Field Sunday, for back-to-back home tilts, against Portland State first then Sacramento State next Thursday. They are currently tied for sixth in the nine-team Big Sky Conference standings, but, early in the season, are one good week from jumping to the top of the table.

Individual and doubles seasons wrapping up

Collegiate tennis is split into two seasons — the individuals and doubles matches, which are played in the fall, and the team tournaments played in the spring.

The Bengals women’s team has one remaining fall meet: the BYU-hosted ITA Mountain Regionals, played in Provo, Utah.

The men’s team has three meets remaining, including this weekend’s University of Utah Invite.