Volleyball team stays perfect with five set win
In-state rivals clashed Tuesday night as the Utah State Aggies took their undefeated record on the road against the BYU Cougars. The Cougars gave the Aggies all they could handle, stretching the game to five sets after falling behind 0-2, but the Aggies extended their unbeaten record to 10-0, defeating the Cougars 3-2 in front of 11,000 fans at the Smith Fieldhouse in Provo. The Aggies are now one win away from matching their best start in team history.
Despite an error-plagued first set, the Aggies battled to a 25-23 victory. Junior outside hitter Liz McArthur, who is ninth in the nation in hitting percentage, continued to hit well and finished the night with 15 kills, but struggled with accuracy, hitting just .133.
Sophomore opposite side hitter Shay Sorenson had six kills to propel the Aggies. Sorenson, fresh off her USU student-athlete of the week award, led the Aggies with 16 kills on the night and a .382 hitting percentage. The first set started close, with the Aggies taking control midway through the set. The Cougars battled back, however, to bring the set to 22-21 in USU’s favor, but two costly Cougar errors and a kill by sophomore outside hitter Josselyn White gave the Aggies the early advantage.
Set two proved more difficult for the Aggies, who did not lead until senior Christine Morrill served an ace to give the Aggies a 20-19 lead. Morrill’s game changing ace was the second in a 5-1 run that gave USU the commanding lead. The Cougars then committed two untimely errors and Sorenson capitalized on two kills to give the Aggies the 25-23 for the second consecutive set.
The Cougars dominated the third set, jumping out to a 5-0 lead and never looking back. The Aggies made things interesting when senior middle blocker Shantell Durrant came up with a huge block to cut the deficit to 18-19 late in the set, but a solid Cougar defense left the Aggies out of sorts and uncomfortable in their offense and the Cougars took the set 25-19.
The fourth set saw the same result from a different storyline. The Cougars jumped out to a 5-1 lead but the Aggies took an 11-7 lead behind the serving of sophomore libero Laurel Bodily, including back-to-back service aces. USU then fell behind but never trailed by more than three. Two key kills from White kept USU close late in the set, but the Aggies cancelled out those two kills with two errors including a service error. The Cougars took the set 25-19.
Set five lived up to everything an in-state rivalry could. With the moment in their favor, the Cougars continued to play strong and capitalized on many Aggie errors. In a set to 15 points, the Cougars led 12-7, forcing the Aggies into a timeout.
The Aggies then showed why they are undefeated, coming out of the timeout with a vengeance. USU used a 4-0 run to cut the deficit to one. The Cougars and Aggies then traded errors before McArthur came up with huge kill to tie the set at 13 apiece. The two teams traded side-outs again to tie the set at 14-all. The game went back and forth to 16-16, when the Aggies scored back-to-back points to take the thrilling five set victory, 18-16.
The Aggies will host the Utah State Invitational on Friday and Saturday. The Aggies face Loyola Marymount and Utah Valley University on Friday, and UC Riverside on Saturday. USU will be looking for their best start in team history, and the title of state supremacy.
-ty.d.hus@aggiemail.usu.edu