Volleyball falls to UVU in straight sets
The Utah State women’s volleyball team fell to in-state foe Utah Valley University Thursday in straight sets, 3-0.
Junior outside hitter Josselyn White and opposite side hitter Shay Sorensen each had 10 kills for the Aggies, but the duo was unable to overcome a balanced Wolverine attack in the loss.
“Shay had a nice night, and Josselyn has been steady for us,” head coach Grayson DuBose said. “It’s great to have her back, she gives us a bit of stability.”
It was a rough start for the Aggies, as the Wolverines jumped out to a 7-3 lead. USU answered with five straight points, including three kills from White to give them an 8-7 advantage.
The Aggies used a balanced attack, with four different hitters getting touches, but struggled to find a rhythm or establish momentum. With the score knotted at 15-all, UVU slowly pulled away and a team block from junior middle blocker Erica Nish and freshman outside hitter Kalani Norris gave the Wolverines the win, 25-20.
DuBose said the offense played well, despite the final score.
“It was a good offensive production from Shay, Liz and Josselyn,” DuBose said. “We’re a little more balanced than we’ve been in the past.”
The second set was more of the same.
USU raced to the early lead, but the Wolverine offense just kept the pressure on. Utah State held an 8-4 lead, but Utah Valley eventually whittled it back down. UVU took a 15-14 advantage with an 11-6 run, and the lead continued to grow as the Wolverines took the second set by a score of 25-21.
Utah State had its chances to get back into the set, but errors thwarted the Aggies and ended hopes of a comeback. Utah Valley hit more than .300 for the set.
“Ashlan (Rogers) and Tamua (Etimani) were two bright spots tonight,” DuBose said. “Tamua came in and served them out of system a bunch. Ashlan did a nice job with her ball control as well.”
It looked like the Woverines were on their way to the sweep as they again had an early advantage.
USU battled back, tying the set and then taking a 7-6 lead on a kill from senior All-American Liz McArthur. The teams battled back and forth until Kaitlyn VanHoff gave the Aggies an edge at 11-9.
USU had no answer for the Utah Valley’s dynamic offense, though, as five UVU players had at least seven kills. Jaicee Kuresa had a solid night for Utah Valley, finishing with 13 kills and a .152 hitting percentage. Utah Valley had a .252 hitting percentage for the match.
“(Utah Valley) is good at home,” DuBose said. “It was just a rough day, we weren’t as good as we needed to be. We just couldn’t defend, couldn’t get in the right spots.”
With the loss, Utah State drops to 11-14 on the season, while maintaining its 6-5 WAC record. Utah Valley improves to 20-8 for the year and remains at 8-1 in the Great West Conference.
USU has not won a set against in-state foes this season, including a sweep by Brigham Young earlier this season.
The Aggies host University of Idaho at home in the Spectrum at 7 p.m. on Saturday, which is Senior Night, so USU will honor its only senior Liz McArthur prior to the match.
“Conference matches are big right now,” DuBose said. “We need to be prepared and get ready to go, we hope people come out to the match on Saturday.”
– curtis.lundstrom@aggiemail.usu.edu