Calif. road trip overwhelms Aggies
For the USU women’s volleyball team, there is still no luck to be found on the road. The Aggies (10-12, 3-5 in Western Athletic Conference play) dropped both their game Thursday against the Fresno State Bulldogs (28-30, 30-22, 30-23, 25-30, 7-15) and their game Saturday vs. the San Jose State Spartans (30-25, 26-30, 30-28, 18-30, 8-15). To make things worse, both were winnable five-game losses for a young Aggie team that continues its struggles with consistency. The two games over the weekend wrapped up a two-week, four-game road swing, which also included losses last weekend to Nevada and Hawaii. Aggie libero Kelsi Peterson set a new school record in the match against Fresno State as she recorded 36 digs. USU outside hitter Amanda Nielson also recorded 46 kills combined in the two matches. Spartans3, Aggies 2 The Spartans (12-8, 3-4), whom the Aggies defeated in four games on Sept. 23 in the Spectrum, were able to rebound nicely Saturday, even after losing Game 1, 25-30, and Game 3, 28-30. SJSU was able to capture Game 2, 30-26, despite a .186 attacking percentage to USU’s .174. In Game 4, the Spartans came out firing, using a .324 attacking percentage to carry themselves to a 30-18 sealing of the game. USU committed six errors and hit .139 in fourth game. And whereas in the other four games combined, there were 11 lead changes, Game 4 featured zero. The Aggies had a .166 attacking percentage in the match and tallied nine service errors. Nielson led USU with 21 kills and 15 digs. Fellow outside hitter Beth Hodge recorded 18 kills and four block assists. True freshman Hailey Jeppson added 15 kills. Bulldogs 3, Aggies 2 Having swept the Bulldogs (3-15, 1-6, last place in the WAC) in the Spectrum Sept. 21, USU opened by recording a .105 attacking percentage to go along with 10 errors. USU bounced back to take Games 2 and 3, though only hitting .114 in Game 2 while committing nine errors. Game 3 was USU’s best as it recorded a .308 hitting percentage and only six errors. The Bulldogs took Game 4 with a .237 attacking percentage. Nielson again was the statistical leader for USU as she recorded 25 kills, eight digs and five block assists. Nielson also tallied a match-high 18 attacking errors, and had a .092 attacking percentage on the night. Hodge collected 16 kills, six digs and four block assists, while also collecting 13 attacking errors of her own to make for a .058 percentage. Peterson’s 36 digs broke her old record of 34, which she set in a match at Fresno State in the 2005 season. -sbhislop@cc.usu.edu