Aggies grind out another five-set win
Melissa Osterloh said she comes into every game swinging away, doing whatever she can to help her team.
Her hard worked paid off for the Aggies, as her 29 kills lead the USU volleyball team to a five-set win (23-25, 25-22, 18-25, 25-23, 15-11) over Idaho Thursday night in the Spectrum.
Osterloh had 11 kills and hit .529 in the do-or-die fourth set, pushing the match into a fifth game as the Aggies won by two.
USU then jumped out to an early 6-1 lead in the fifth set, and was able to hold on for the 15-11 victory.
“Games to 15 are so short, so you want to come out with a lot of momentum,” Osterloh said. “I was really proud of our team for coming out and fulfilling that goal.”
After a disappointing 22-25 loss in the first set, freshman hitter Emily Kortsen had five kills in the second to help USU bounce back and win the set.
The Aggies struggled in the third set, hitting .024 on their way to the 18-25 loss.
Head coach Grayson DuBose said the Aggies were a bit too tentative early on, but were able to be more aggressive to take control later in the match.
Kortsen credited energy for the team’s comeback.
“You make a good play and the energy goes up,” she said. “We got a couple really nice runs, too.”
Kortsen had a career-high 13 kills and four block assists in the match, including two key blocks late in the fifth set.
In regard to her career-high kills, Kortsen said, “Yeah, I did what I could.”
Osterloh, who also had four service aces and 10 digs in the match, was praised by both DuBose and Kortsen for her performance.
“She was on fire,” Kortsen said. “Every time she got set, it was just over. She had the game of a lifetime.”
DuBose echoed her, noting Osterloh’s leadership as well.
“We believe she’s an all-conference player, and she played like that tonight,” he said. “She was directing people back there on the back row and doing a great job for us. For sure she was in the zone tonight.”
DuBose said the team served and passed well, and noted libero Christine Morrill, who had 24 digs in the match.
“Christine (Morrill) did a great job with her ball control throughout the match, but more importantly at the end of each game,” he said.
Idaho was led by senior Haley Larsen, who also had 29 kills in the match.
USU is now 6-1 this season in five-set matches, and improves to 7-5 in conference play, while Idaho drops to 7-4 in the WAC.
The Aggies continue conference play Saturday as they travel to Honolulu to play No. 8 Hawaii, which DuBose describes as “one of the most fun places to play in the country.”
–joseph.w@aggiemail.usu.edu