Aggie spikers outlast Vandals for first conference victory
Again it was a slow start for the Utah State University women’s volleyball team, only this time it was able to rebound and earn the victory.
The Aggies turned around a first-game deficit and defeated the University of Idaho in four games, 21-30, 30-23, 30-28, 30-28 Saturday in Moscow, Idaho.
The victory, USU’s first Big West Conference win, improved the Aggies to 6-6 overall and 1-2 in conference, while Idaho dropped to 4-7 and 1-2.
“It was kind of ugly on both sides, but we got the win and that’s what is important,” said Aggie Head Coach Burt Fuller.
In game one, the Vandals jumped on the Aggies quickly, hitting .484 on their way to a 30-21 victory. Middle blocker Anna-Marie Hammond led Idaho in the first game, recording eight kills.
Utah State roared back in the second game. Despite hitting .303 and recording 16 kills in the third game, Idaho wasn’t able to stop the Aggies, who hit a blistering .564 with 24 kills and only two errors in the 30-23 win.
“We made some line up changes and were able to get into a better rhythm,” Fuller said. “It was a nice turnaround by us and it was good to see we didn’t fold after the first game.”
Idaho kept things close in the final two games, but once the Aggies had the momentum, they didn’t let up.
Utah State out-hit UI in the final two games, .250-.225 and .074-.022, and posted two 30-28 wins.
For the match, Idaho hit .235, just better than USU’s .234. UI posted 64 kills and 29 errors while the Aggies had 61 kills but only 24 errors.
“I was really happy to see us come out in the second game and the third game and hit as well as we did,” Fuller said. “It really kept us going through the match.”
Tereza and Zuzana Cernianska led the Aggies in the match.
Zuzana finished with 18 kills, 19 assists, eight digs and six block assists. Tereza had 15 kills, 13 digs and three block assists.
Middle blocker Erin Cartwright also reached double digits, picking up 11 kills.
Middle blocker Jenna Jordan chipped in eight kills for the Aggies.
Idaho was led by Hammond, who finished with a match-high 21 kills.
The Aggies spread the ball around by using two setters in the match, Andrea Delsigne and Zuzana, Fuller said.
“It gave us a chance to get Zuzana some more swings and Andrea did a good job,” he said.
Blocking came up big for the Aggies in the match as well. USU out-blocked the Vandals 16-10. Cartwright led the Aggies with three solo blocks and four block assists. As a team, USU had five solo blocks and 22 block assists.
Cartwright started at outside hitter in the match but once she moved to the middle, the blocking picked up and the Aggies were able to slow some of Idaho’s middles down, Fuller said.
The Aggies will continue their three-match road swing Friday against the No. 10 University of California Santa Barbara. Saturday USU will face California Polytechnic State University.
-slbk5@cc.usu.edu