Aggies come from behind to win
Heading into Saturday’s game against the University of Idaho, Utah State University women’s volleyball coach Burt Fuller said the Aggies and Vandals were among the teams closely grouped in the middle in the Big West Conference.
He was right.
Playing their first home match of the season, Utah State ground out a come-from-behind 30-27, 31-33, 27-30, 30-28, 15-12 thriller over Idaho on Saturday afternoon in the Spectrum. With the victory, USU improved to 4-3 (1-0 in BWC play).
“[Our performance] wasn’t as consistent as we hoped,” Fuller said. “But again, we haven’t been playing consistently and its been two weeks between matches, so maybe some of that is attributable. We’re really happy we won, though.”
In a match that featured a combined 41 service errors between the two teams, it was Idaho (4-4 overall, 0-1 in the BWC) that had more difficulty on its serve in the fifth and decisive game.
“We missed one serve in the fifth game; they missed three,” Fuller said. “We beat them by three points.”
Not only did the Aggies serve more consistently in the latter stages of the match, they were able to contain freshman sensation Laura McCaffrey in the last two games.
McCaffrey torched the Aggies for a match-high 20 kills, but was held to three in the last two games.
Though USU was outblocked by a two-to-one ratio – 14 team blocks for Idaho compared to seven for the Aggies – the Aggies tandem of Erin Cartwright and Hailey MacKay combined for several in the pivotal fourth game, including a couple facials on McCaffrey.
“We finally got used to where she was hitting the ball,” MacKay said.
Blocking the opponent also gives a team a huge emotional boost, Cartwright said.
“If you get a roof, your team goes wild,” Cartwright said. “It’s a better feeling to get a roof than a kill, I think.”
Both teams blasted out of the gates as USU hit .343 in the first game with Idaho not far behind at .333.
Six straight Aggie points gave USU what seemed to be a comfortable lead at 29-24, but the Vandals countered with three straight of their own, cutting the deficit to 29-27. The Vandals appeared to be in position to extend the game further, but Emily Kennedy put the game away with a well-placed kill down the center of the Vandal defense.
Senior Lisa Borom put the pressure on the Vandals early, finishing the first game with six kills and four digs.
Like the first game, game two was a back-and-forth affair. Fifteen ties later, a Borom kill gave the Aggies their first game point at 29-27 and a chance to take control of the match.
The Vandals would respond, taking four of the next five points for a game point of their own and eventually closing the game out on an Anna-Marie Hammond/Jackie Gallagher block of Borom.
McCaffrey was a thorn in the Aggies’ side, finishing the second game with eight kills.
Game three was a game of mini-runs, with the Vandals striking first with five consecutive points to take a 5-1 lead. Consecutive kills by Cartwright, Rickie Rigby and Michelle Matheson put the Aggies up 18-16, followed by four straight Vandal points.
Despite outhitting Idaho .306 to .242 in the third game, USU couldn’t shake free from the Vandals and their presence at the net.
“They outblocked us two-to-one,” Fuller said. “They’re bigger than we are, but we’re going to have to expect that a lot of the year.”
A Borom service error and a fortuitous roll on a Mindy Marques jump serve later, and the Vandals had a two games-to-one lead.
Unlike the first three games, both teams struggled to put the ball away in the fourth game, with the Aggies hitting a paltry .104, only to be outdone by the Vandals’ .020 hitting percentage.
In addition to poor hitting percentages, both teams stepped up their defensive intensity as both the Aggies and Vandals nearly matched their dig output from the previous three games.
Despite trailing the majority of the game, the Vandals fought back and took only their second lead of the game at 26-24.
With its back against the wall, USU refused to go down.
Digs by Cartwright and outside hitter Tanya McArthur-Birch set the stage for Borom and Cartwright putaways. Following a Brooke Haeberle hitting error, the Aggies had a 29-26 lead and the momentum they needed to take charge.