USU downed in Big West opener
The first game was indicative of the entire match Thursday for the Utah State women’s volleyball team.
A first serve ace for the University of California Irvine got the Anteater offense going, leading to a first game victory and an eventual 3-1 match victory in the Spectrum.
“That first ball totally sets the way you’re going to play and it did,” Aggie setter Andrea Delsigne said. “It just set the mood.”
The conference win pushes UCI to 7-4 overall and 1-1 in the Big West Conference. USU falls to 5-5 and 0-1 in conference.
“It’s disappointing for everybody,” USU middle blocker Hailey MacKay-Seedall said. “There’s just a lot to fix.”
In the first game, UCI jumped out 5-0 behind outside hitter Chada McLeod’s serving before the Aggies could score. The Anteaters extended their lead to 16-6 before USU was able to stage a comeback in the game.
The Aggies went on a 16-4 run to tie the game, 26-26, but Irvine rebounded and defeated the Aggies 30-28.
Although USU had more kills, 16-14, in the first game, UCI out-hit the Aggies .273 to .167, with only five errors against the Aggies 10.
The tables were turned in the second game as the Aggies jumped out to the early lead, 10-3. Irvine fought back though and eventually took the lead, 18-17. UCI trailed shortly at 24-22 but a USU hitting error and two Anteater blocks put Irvine ahead for good, 25-24.
UCI went on to win the game 31-29 to take a controlling 2-0 game lead.
Utah State held the Anteaters to .106 hitting in the game, but only hit .065 with 15 kills and 12 errors.
In the third game, the match appeared to be a runaway with Irvine jumping up 6-1. Utah State stormed back, though.
Outside hitter Shauni Fluckiger and middle blocker Erin Cartwright combined for back-to-back kills, and then Cartwright paired with Seedall and outside hitter Tereza Cernianska for two blocks.
The Aggies went up 9-8 and never looked back, going on to win 30-25.
USU was able to improve its hitting in third game to .231, recording 16 kills and seven errors. The Aggies also held UCI to only .058 hitting.
Falling behind 6-1 to begin the fourth game, the Aggies were unable to recover. UCI extended their lead to nine, 18-9, and held on, allowing USU to only get back to within seven before a 30-21 game victory and 3-1 match victory.
“We didn’t play tonight,” Fuller said. “We didn’t appear to have a lot of fun out there. It’s not fun when things aren’t working, but we didn’t work together.”
For the match, Utah State recorded one more kill than UCI, 58-57, but had more errors, 38-32. Irvine hit .148 while the Aggies hit .124.
“It looked like we just started the season again,” Fuller said. “[To start the season] we were a little disjointed, we weren’t connecting well. The difference tonight was when things went bad we didn’t come together. We’re going to be a good team when our team is together.”
Cernianska led USU with 17 kills, while her sister, Zuzana Cernianska, added 11. Cartwright chipped in 12.
Seedall, who finished with six kills and no errors, returned after missing the last two tournaments for the Aggies due to illness and injury.
“We’re going to need her at some point, and if she is healthy, it gives us some more options,” Fuller said.
The Anteaters were led by outside hitter Kelly Wing, who finished the game with 19 kills on 58 attempts.
McLeod had three of the Anteater’s six service aces. USU had four service aces, but only six service errors to UCI’s 11.
“They served a little bit lower, a little bit flatter, and it’s a tougher ball to pass,” Fuller said. “I thought we served very effectively, but their libero passed the ball very well and she took a lot of balls.”
Saturday the Aggies will be back in the Spectrum hosting No. 6 Long Beach State University. Last season LBSU went 18-0 in the Big West and was the national runner-up.
“They’re going to hit the ball a ton,” Fuller said. “They’re going to be real sharp. That’s a top flight team.”
Delsigne said, “I think our team will overcome. I hope everyone sets [Irvine] aside and doesn’t look back.”
-slbk5@cc.usu.edu