Busting the Broncs

It was literally a tale of two very different games in the Utah State women’s volleyball team’s four-game win over Boise State Saturday night.

After scraping out a 30-27 game one win, game two was about as painful as a volleyball game could get for the Aggies. They went up with an early 1-0 lead, but didn’t get ahead for the rest of the game.

At one point during the game, Boise could have just tossed the ball over the net and left the rest of the work up to the Aggies. They were scoring enough points for both teams to keep the game close.

The game finally ended 30-23.

“It was ugly in game two – I’m not going to lie,” senior Ingrid Roth said.

But after the break, an entirely different team came out of the locker room.

A 5-0 run at the beginning of the game put USU up 7-2 – and the Aggies never looked back after that.

“It’s nice that we can come out of halftime with that kind of desire,” USU Head Coach Burt Fuller said. “When we play with a level of intensity, we can play well.”

The 30-9 win was the first time an Aggie team has kept their opponent in single digits since the change to rally scoring.

Sophomore Amanda Orgill led the Ags down the stretch to the win with three kills, two aces and a block.

“We came out with the intensity we know we have,” Roth said. “But we need to display that all the time. We set that bar, now we need to practice and play at that level at all times.”

The fourth game was much like the first. Both teams came out and traded points at the beginning of the game. But about halfway through the game, the Aggies were able to pull away.

Sophomore Carolyn Forbush led the Aggies in the final game. She came in and had seven points for the Aggies.

Senior Erin Graybill led the Aggies with 15 kills. Senior Zuzana Cernianska and Roth both put up 13 kills and Orgill was the only other Aggie in double digits with 12 kills.

Boise State had only one player in double digits. Cameron Flunder led the way for the Broncos with 12 kills and five blocks.

The Aggies will return to action Wednesday, hosting No. 9 Hawai’i State. The game starts at 7 p.m. in the Spectrum.

-aedmunds@cc.usu.edu

Utah State’s Dominique Arsenault and Erin Graybill block the ball as Boise State’s Jeanette Jenkins attempts to spike it. The Aggies held the Broncos to only nine points in the third game.