Aggie volleyball wins fourth straight
Utah State women’s volleyball team fought back from five points down late in the third game with Idaho State to win the match and remain unbeaten.
The Aggies are off to a 4-0 start after they took three straight games from ISU at the Spectrum Wednesday night.
Utah State jumped out to a quick start against the Bengals, winning the first two games, then had to come back from a deficit to win the third game and the match.
USU Head Coach Burt Fuller said it was a good win over a much-improved Idaho State team.
“We knew it was going to be a good match,” Fuller said. “They’re picked eighth in the Big Sky and they’re much better than eighth. They’re going to beat some teams.”
The Bengals came into Logan fresh from tying for the Fresno State Tournament championship and with their star outside hitter, Ali Gorny, having won both the tournament MVP award and Big Sky Player of the Week honors.
Utah State was able to contain Gorny, keeping her to only 11 kills coming off a tournament where she had more than 20 kills in each of three matches.
Fuller was pleased with his team’s effort to come from behind in the third game and win 30-27, despite not being as sharp as the first two games.
“It’s nice when you can come back, especially when you are behind inside 20,” Fuller said.
ISU led 25-20 because of some sloppy play by Utah State, but outside hitters Erin Cartwright and Zuzana Cernianska took over at that point. They scored eight of the team’s final 10 points, including six straight to take the lead for good at 28-26.
Cernianska led the team in kills with 19 and a .361 hitting percentage. Freshman outside hitter Beth Hodge was next with 14 and Cartwright added 13.
Cartwright said the responsibility to step up and lead the team on her shoulders is on her shoulders, especially when the team is down.
“I feel like I’m looked to a lot for [leadership] just because I’m one of the only seniors and a captain,” Cartwright said. “It feels great to start out 4-0 and I just hope we can keep it going.”
Hodge said communication and fundamentals were the key to the rally.
“We just had to pull it together, lots of talking, go back to our basics and do what we know how to do,” Hodge said.
The Aggies finished with a low hitting percentage of .213 but held the Bengals even lower at .153.
The Aggies were outblocked by the Bengals, getting five blocks compared to the Bengals’ 11.
Utah State took the lead early in the first game, and didn’t look back. Hodge led the attack and the Aggies won the game 30-22.
The second game was closer. While the Aggies never trailed, the Bengals came back from as many as six points down to tie the game. It stayed close to the end, with the Aggies winning 30-27.
The last time Utah State women’s volleyball team started a season with four straight wins, none of the current players had been born yet. Jimmy Carter was president of the United States. The “Saturday Night Fever” soundtrack won a Grammy for best album.
The year: 1979. USU reeled off 11 straight wins to start that season.
The Aggies will face stiff competition this weekend as they try to remain undefeated. They head north to compete in the Montana State-Mizuno/Holiday Inn Classic, where they will face No. 14 Kansas State. Montana State and Alabama are also in the tourney.
“[Kansas State] will give us a run for our money,” Cartwright said. “Hopefully, we can keep up with them and we’ll really see what we can really do against a team like that.”
Cartwright said the Aggies prepare the same way for every opponent but gets a little more excited for a team like Kansas State.
“I think we’ll just be a little more fired up and pumped because they are ranked so high,” she said.
-royburton@cc.usu.edu