Ag volleyball drops pair in California
The 2002 season ended on a low note for the Utah State women’s volleyball team with losses Friday and Saturday.
Utah State finishes the season 14-16 overall and 7-11 in
conference.
Against No. 10 Long Beach State University (25-3, 14-3) Friday, the Aggies kept the first game tight, but LBSU prevailed 30-28.
“We get to 25 all in the first game and then we finish the game on our errors,” said Aggie Head Coach Burt Fuller in a phone interview.
The 49ers went on to sweep USU, winning the final two games 30-23, 30-22. Inconsistency was the biggest problem the Aggies had, Fuller said.
“We had good spurts, but we can’t give up four or five [points] in a row and expect to beat a team,” he said.
Middle blocker Erin Cartwright led the Aggies in the match with 11 kills. She was the only Aggie to reach double digits in kills.
Outside hitters Rickie Rigby and Zuzana Cernianska added nine and eight kills respectively.
Long Beach saw two players reach double digits in kills as outside hitter Lindsay Phillips had a match-high 14 and middle blocker Elisha Thomas picked up 13.
The 49ers also out-blocked the Aggies, 13-6. Thomas led the way with seven block assists.
Going into Saturday’s match against the University of California Irvine (17-11, 10-8), the Aggies were looking to pay back a team they lost to earlier in the season at home. The outcome was similar to the previous match, though.
Fuller said Irvine had a lot to play for, vying for a possible NCAA Tournament berth.
“[Irvine] played very inspired,” he said. “We played like it was our last match.”
UCI swept through Utah State, 30-22, 30-20, 30-22. In the match, the Anteaters hit a hot .461 while holding the Aggies to .218.
Once again in kills, Cartwright (12) and Rigby (9) led the Aggies. Outside hitters Zuzana and Tereza Cernianska had eight and nine kills. Middle blocker Ingrid Roth added eight kills on .667
hitting.
Irvine had three players in double digits in kills with each of them hitting over .500. Outside hitter Chanda McLeod hit .632 with 13 kills, middle blocker Dana Kurzbard also had 13 kills while hitting .550, and outsider hitter Kelly Wing hit .556 and had a match-high 16 kills.
“They ran rampant,” Fuller said.
Combined with Irvine’s hot hitting, the Aggies only managed one block.
Fuller said the Aggies were unable to put pressure on Irvine, allowing them to pass well.
“When they pass well, they are tough to stop,” he said. “We didn’t touch a lot of balls.”
The Aggies were able to dig 35 balls, with a match-high 10 by defensive specialist Taubi Neves, but it still wasn’t enough to slow the Anteaters down who dug 45 balls on their side. Additionally, Fuller said once again the Aggies didn’t serve well, missing three of their first four serves. When the USU servers lightened, he said it gave the Anteaters better passing opportunities, allowing them to put the ball away.
The loss was the third straight for the Aggies.
Despite the loss, Fuller said Saturday’s match was special for some of the players. In the match, four Utah State seniors, middle blocker Hailey Seedall defensive specialist Emily Kennedy and outside hitters Shauni Fluckiger and Rigby, put on an Aggie uniform for the last time.
Fuller said he gives his congratulations to the seniors for their time at USU and the contributions they made to the team.
“They’re good people and players,” he said. “I wish them well.”
–slbk5@cc.usu.edu