Aggie spikers defeat Bengals in 4 games
The USU volleyball squad closed out preseason play with a 3-1 win (25-30,
30-21, 30-19, 30-19) over the Idaho State Bengals at the Dee Glen Smith
Spectrum Monday night.
Senior Zuzana Cernianska recorded 20 kills while hitting .514 and senior Ingrid
Roth added 17 kills and a .519 hitting percentage. Senior Erin
Graybill rounded out the trio of .500 hitters with 14 kills of her own on .500
hitting.
“Our side was just flowing,” Roth said. “We were just putting ball after ball after ball in. Everyone was together.”
Games three and four were particularly productive for the Aggies. They opened the third game by scoring 10 of the first 11 points and 20 of the first 25. In the fourth game, USU hit .500 as a team and recorded two errors while
holding ISU to .000 hitting. “It was one cohesive unit,” Roth said. “There
were some big holes and I think we just took advantage of them.”
At the end of the night, USU had hit .337 and recorded 81 kills, both season
highs for four-game matches.
Utah State opened the match sluggishly, hitting only .146 in the first game and
committing 12 errors to the Bengals’ four.
“The first game was a little shaky,” Utah State Head Coach Burt Fuller said. “We had a pretty tough travel schedule over the past few days. I don’t think we were as physically tired as maybe mentally drained.”
The Aggies took a day off before facing the Bengals and after playing three matches in as many nights at the Stanford Invitational. “We didn’t practice yesterday, so it was hard to get started for some of the kids,” Fuller said.
“I think it’s a good learning experience to have to play after a day off after a hard match.”
Cernianska’s 20 kills pushed the Aggies’ kills record to 1489. Cernianska passed Amy Crosbie for the top spot during Saturday’s match against St.
Mary’s.
Felice Yocopis led the Bengals with 17 kills and 11 digs.
Utah State opens conference play Thursday at 7 p.m. in Logan against New Mexico State (6-1).
“New Mexico State is one of the top teams in the WAC,” Fuller said. “They’re new in the WAC, so it’s a new experience for all of us.”
“I’m amped to play on Thursday,” Roth said. “New conference, new teams – it
just feels good to do something new. I think it’s going to be great. Especially to open it at home with our fans in our gym at our altitude.”
-benwalker@cc.usu.edu
Utah States´s Zuzana Cernianska hits a ball over Idaho States setter Liza Bushman Monday night in the Spectrum. The Aggies topped the Bengals 3-1.