Aggies split weekend bill vs New Mexico, Air Force
The Utah State volleyball team posted a 1-1 Mountain West record over the weekend when it took on Air Force and New Mexico on the road. The Aggies improved to 9-5 in MWC play and 16-9 overall for the season.
New Mexico 3, Utah State 0
USU finished up their MWC road-trip with a three-set loss to New Mexico on Saturday.
Head coach Grayson DuBose, who was an assistant coach at new Mexico in 2001, said it was a hard loss, but one he believes the Aggies can learn from.
“We just didn’t play well enough to win today,” DuBose said. “We had our chances, but we just have to learn how to play better under stress.”
The Lobos took an early lead in the first set. The Aggies tied the set at 24-all with two blocks by Rachel Orr and Alyssa Everett and a kill by sophomore opposite side hitter Elle Brainard but the Lobos pulled it out, taking the set at 27-25.
The second set started with NMU leading and after five unanswered points, the Aggies went on a run of their own to bring the score to 21-17. USU couldn’t hold on, and New Mexico ended the set at 25-18, giving them a 2-0 lead going into intermission.
The Aggies took their first lead of the third set when a kill by Orr brought the score to 17-16. The Lobos continued to hold the lead but the Aggies again tied it up at 22-22 with a kill by Brainard. UNM closed out the set with three consecutive points, taking the match and the set at 25-22.
Junior setter Paige Neves dished out 31 assists in the match and junior libero Ashlyn Rogers-Court gave the Aggies their only service ace of the match.
Utah State 3, Air Force 1
USU volleyball took down Air Force 3-1 (25-22, 25-16, 25-18, 25-15) Thursday in the first-ever meeting between these two schools in history.
“This is a tough place to come play. Air Force is a very passionate team and they played with a lot of passion tonight, and I’m very happy with how we were able to bounce back and match their passion after the first set,” DuBose said. “We were able to come back and play a lot better after that, we took care of ourselves and played our style of volleyball.”
Both teams fought hard in the first set, leading to an Etimani kill which tied the score 18-18. Air Force regained the lead and though the Aggies made a run for it, they were never quite able to regain the lead, dropping the set 25-22.
USU took a big lead in the second set and the Falcons fought to close the space, bringing the score to 21-14, but the Aggies pulled it out with two kills by Etimani to end the second set at 25-16.
The Aggies opened the third set strong and opened the gap to 19-14 on an Air Force error. Etimani and Everett joined together for a block to take the set 25-18.
USU held off the Falcons in the fourth set, and a block by Brainard and VanHoff followed by an Etimani kill ended the set at 25-15 and the match at 3-1.
USU had three players with double-digits in kills, led by senior outside hitter Tumua Etimani with 15 kills and junior middle blocker Kaitlyn VanHoff and junior outside hitter Rachel Orr with 11 kills apiece.
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