Almost

The Utah State volleyball team fell to the University of Utah in five games Tuesday night in the Spectrum.

It was the third time in the last three matches that the Ags came up short in the fifth game, something Utah State Head Coach Burt Fuller says is tough.

“It’s disappointing to keep coming up short in those,” Fuller said. “The positives are that we’re going five and we aren’t getting spanked and that we were able to turn things around.”

USU’s Zuzana Cernianska had a match-high 26 kills to lead the way for the Aggies. But it wasn’t enough.

In the fifth game, the Ags were outscored 8-2 halfway through the game, sealing the win for the Utes. Down 10-14, the Aggies were still fighting. A kill from sophomore Monarisa Ale followed by another from Cernianska. But a USU error on the next serve gave Utah the game and the match.

“We just didn’t capitalize and that’s disappointing, especially against an in-state rival,” Fuller said. “We weren’t able to get a better showing out of the gun in our first home match.”

“Our team really wanted to win this match. At the beginning, maybe we were a little too tight.”

In the first game, the Aggies had an early 2-1 lead. However, it was the last Aggie lead for a while.

Utah dominated the first two games, winning both 30-25.

However, Utah State wasn’t going to give up.

“We just needed to use our serve more as a weapon,” USU’s Kelsie Peterson said. “We needed to come out and give them more of what they were giving us.”

The Aggies came out of the locker room on fire. In the first couple minutes of the game, Utah State went up 8-3 over Utah, and held the lead for most of the game. The Utes were able to come back and tie the game at 18, but the Aggies held out and won the game 30-25.

Fuller said the key to the Aggie win was serving. He said the Ags started serving more aggressively, taking Utah out of the offense and giving Utah State time to set up its block.

After the win in game three, the Ag’s enthusiasm carried over into the fourth game, giving them the 30-26 win and taking the match to five games.

“I was so excited,” Peterson said. “I don’t think I’ve ever been so pumped in my entire life. My adrenaline was out of the roof.”

But it wasn’t enough for Utah State as they fell in the final game 15-12.

Peterson led the Aggies defensively with a career-high 30 digs.

She tied the record for the most digs in a single five-game match.

Along with Cernianska, two other Aggie players had double-digit kills. Beth Hodge had 13 while Ale contributed 12 kills.

Utah was led by senior Shelly Sommerfeldt with 19 kills. Three other Utes had double digits. Lori Baird and Airial Salvo both put up 12 kills, while Kathryn Lovell had 11.

The Aggies will next face BYU Saturday in Provo.

“We need to turn the corner here,” Fuller said. “We’re down at BYU and those guys, I’m sure, really want to beat us. And they’re playing very well right now. That’ll be a tough match.”

-aedmunds@cc.usu.edu

Amanda Orgill stretches to reach a ball against Utah. The Aggies lost to the Utes after five games.