Formidable task awaits women’s volleyball team
With only two games remaining, the season is coming to a close for the Utah State women’s volleyball team, but it can still accomplish one of its goals.
The Aggies (14-14, 7-9) will be attempting to go .500 in the Big West Conference, but a formidable task stands in their way – they must beat No. 10 Long Beach State University (24-3, 13-3) and the University of California Riverside (15-11, 8-8) on the road.
Long Beach will host the Aggies on Friday night at 7:30 p.m. and then USU will play at Irvine on Saturday night at 7 p.m.
Defensive specialist Emily Kennedy said the team feels some pressure going into the matches.
“I think we’re always going to feel some pressure no matter what, because .500 is our goal,” she said. “We’re for sure going to want to push ourselves to win this weekend, keeping that in mind.”
Junior Middle blocker Erin Cartwright said she sees it a little differently.
“It’s more of a challenge than anything else,” she said. “We made a goal to go .500 and we need to beat both of the games this weekend in order to do that.”
Earlier this season USU lost to the 49ers in three games at home. The Aggies have lost 21-straight to Long Beach and are 0-11 on the road against LBSU.
Intimidation isn’t a factor, though, Kennedy said.
“I don’t think there is any intimidation,” she said. “They’re another good team, but we’re a good team, too. We have to go after each team like they’re the best team in the conference and play our best toward them because anyone can win.”
The Anteaters also beat USU in the Spectrum earlier this season, and the Aggies are looking to return the favor.
“It just makes me mad thinking they came in and beat us on our home court,” Cartwright said. “It’s payback time.”
Aggie Head Coach Burt Fuller said, “Irvine, it’s a big match for them. It’s their last match at home and I’m sure they want to beat us just as much as we want to beat them. We’d like to avenge our earlier home-court loss.”
One aspect of their game the Aggies have been working on in practice has been their serving. In its last match, against the University of the Pacific, Utah State committed seven service errors in the first game, and finished the match with 11.
“I think that serving has been something we have focused on for three-quarters of the season,” Fuller said. “We just had a bad run.”
Although the season is winding down, there are still opportunities for players to learn, Kennedy said.
“Every game there is a chance to learn and to grow and to pick up something new,” she said.
Cartwright said, “We learn something new in practice every day. We’re improving every day in practice, even until our last practice. There is always something to learn.”
Despite preparing to play their last two matches and end the season, the Aggies are still looking to keep fighting and finish strong.
“The season is not over yet,” Kennedy said. “You’ve got to finish to the end. That’s what makes teams better, not just letting things go at the end of the season and keep pushing all the way through.”
Fuller agreed.
“You can end your season on a winning note and that’s always nice to remember, and that’s what we’re trying to do,” he said.
-slbk5@cc.usu.edu