Women’s volleyball beats UT-Arlington in first round
Utah State’s volleyball team won their first match of the Western Athletic Conference Tournament on Monday night against the University of Texas at Arlington in four sets.
“It’s nice to get one out of the way,” said USU head coach Grayson DuBose. “It’s not the prettiest match I’ve ever been a part of. A win is a win at the end of the day.”
The Aggies dropped a very back-and-forth first set by a score of 26-24.
Utah State had a three-point lead at 18-15 but the Mavericks came back and tied the match at 24 apiece. Senior opposite side hitter Shay Sorensen led the Aggies with four kills in the first set.
The Aggies never trailed in the second set and were led by sophomore outside hitter Rachel Orr who recorded five kills, including the set winner.
Utah State had three separate five-point leads in the second set, only to have the Mavericks battle back and make it close. However, a tie at 8-8 was as close as the match came, ending by a score of 25-23.
The Mavericks kept the game close in the third set until the Aggies went on an 8-3 run to widen the score to 23-16, eventually winning 25-19.
Sophomore setter Paige Neves recorded eight assists in the third set while Orr and senior outside hitter Josselyn White each earned three kills.
The fourth set was extremely close: Neither team earned a lead greater than two points until the Aggies led 21-18. The Aggies ended the match on a 4-1 run led by WAC freshman of the year Elle Brainard, who had two kills and the match-winning block to end the game by a score of 25-19.
The Aggies were led by Orr and White in kills with 12 and 10, respectively. Neves had 37 assists and sophomore middle blocker Kaitlyn VanHoff recorded 7 blocks. White led the team in digs with 25.
Next up for Utah State is the battle of the Aggies as USU takes on New Mexico State in the second round of the WAC Tournament. NMSU swept Denver in their opening round match.
Utah State won both matches against NMSU this season by a combined score of 6-1
“We’ve played those guys a lot over the years,” DuBose said. “We know what to expect. They’re a good volleyball team and they’re going to be well trained and well prepared.”
Utah State will play at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday.
– sean.osullivan@aggiemail.usu.edu
Twitter: @seansy89