Volleyball slams way to 2-0, tops Utes
The USU volleyball team is off to a quick start after winning both of its matches this weekend, just a week after coming off a warm-up scrimmage. Following the scrimmage, head volleyball coach Grayson DuBose said his team was looking to get rid of a bad taste left in its mouth from a 2009 season in which high expectations went unmet.
“They learned how to compete,” DuBose said of the lessons learned from a year ago, when his team experienced periods of both early-season triumphs and late-season struggles.
But after a Saturday doubleheader against UC Davis and the University of Utah, that bad taste from 2009 appears to be on its way out, replaced by something much more favorable for the Aggies.
“It’s hard not to like everything we did,” DuBose said. “I thought as a team we played very, very well.”
Utah State opened up the 2010 campaign with an afternoon sweep of UC Davis and finished off the opening day of the season with the Aggies’ first victory against Utah in Salt Lake City since 1990.
Leading the way for USU was junior outside hitter Liz McArthur, who tallied 19 kills in just three sets against UC Davis, and tied a career-high with 25 kills against the Utes.
“She’s capable of getting in this really nice groove,” DuBose said of McArthur’s play Saturday. “She was hitting smart and she was being decisive and she didn’t hesitate.”
USU opened up against UC Davis with a small deficit throughout most of the first game before running off four straight points to break an 18-18 tie against the Big West Conference member. From there, Utah State held on for a 25-21 victory in the first set – a score that would become a trend throughout the remainder of the match.
In the second set, USU opened up a commanding 9-3 lead early before UC Davis eventually battled back to tie the set at 15-15. Still, the WAC Aggies never trailed en route to the 25-21 win over the Big West Aggies.
The third set saw USU’s largest deficit of the entire match when the team trailed 9-13 early. USU battled back to tie the match at 14, however, before dropping three straight points. Behind 14-17, Utah State took control of the match one last time as they notched seven of the next eight points to take the lead back one last time for another 25-21 win to complete the sweep in the battle of the two Aggie teams.
Later in the day, USU took on in-state rival Utah, a foe DuBose’s team hasn’t beaten during the last two seasons.
USU came out against Utah with a bit of a rocky start, falling behind for the majority of the first set before eventually battling back to force the set into a tie-breaker, which the Aggies lost 30-28.
That’s when the resolve and experience kicked in for the Aggies. “We just kept grinding and grinding,” DuBose said.
“I think it shows a lot about who we are as a team and our character. We were down and we came back.”
Utah State battled back in the second set with a 25-19 victory in which the Aggies never trailed. The third set was much less convincing for USU, as there were three lead-changes throughout a set that also saw the score tied at 10 different points, the last of which came at 22-22. Fortunately for Dubose, USU won three of the next four points for a 25-23 win and a 2-1 lead in the match.
The fourth set was a much more commanding one for USU. The Aggies led for the majority of the action on their way to a 25-19 win in that set and a 3-1 win.
While McArthur’s combined total of 44 kills over the two matches landed her Most Valuable Player honors for the Utah Classic tournament, DuBose was pleased with the effort of everyone involved.
“Everyone played a vital role in what we were trying to accomplish,” he said.
One of those roles was played by senior Chelsea Fowles, who logged 56 assists in the tournament finale against Utah to follow up a 36-assist performance in the first match against UC Davis. Fowles also had three service aces during the tournament.
Utah State’s 2-0 start to the season marks the first time the Aggies have stayed perfect through two matches since 2005, when USU started the season 4-0.
The Aggies will attempt to push the record to 3-0 when they host Weber State Tuesday night at 7 p.m. in USU’s home opener at the Spectrum. Admission is free for students.
– matt.sonn@aggiemail.usu.edu