A clean sweep for Aggie spikers
Three sets was all it took for the USU women’s volleyball team to beat Louisiana Tech Thursday night in the Spectrum.
USU led from the beginning of the first set and never looked back, finishing with a 25-18 win. Senior outside hitter Melissa Osterloh led the first set with four kills and sophomore setter Chelsea Fowles added seven assists in the set.
Taylor Fritz and KC Clayton led Louisiana Tech in the first set with two kills each, and Bianca Bin added five assists.
USU had five service aces in the first set. The Aggies had no blocks in the first two sets, and only had two in the final set.
“For some reason we have a hard time blocking that team, and I don’t know why that is,” said USU head coach Grayson DuBose. “They slime it a little bit, we call it.”
USU senior outside hitter Kris Hymas, who didn’t play in the first set, came out in the second set and had seven kills, one service ace and two digs to score eight points.
“She did a great job,” DuBose said. “She came in off the bench. She has been preparing herself real well for this opportunity. I was happy Kris came in and gave us a spark.”
Fowles had 14 assists in the second set, and sophomore libero Christine Morrill had nine digs. The Aggies were down 14-12 in the second set, and then went on a 7-0 run to take a five-point lead.
“About halfway through the second set the energy really started to pick up,” Hymas said. “Everybody started doing their job, and it just came together nicely for us.”
The second set was a lot more competitive, with the Aggies having 26 digs, and Louisiana Tech getting 17. Louisiana Tech had 20 blocks in the match.
Hymas said USU dominated the third set from start to finish, beginning with a 7-0 run.
“We just went out on fire,” Hymas said. “We set a goal to keep them at 12 or under, and we did that.”
Hymas also led the Aggies in the third set with 10 kills, one service ace and 4 digs. Senior middle blocker Rebecca Anderson and freshman opposite side hitter Emily Kortsen had five kills each.
Coach Dubose said he was pleased with the 3-0 sweep of Louisiana Tech.
“Any time you can kind of go in and win, of course, and win quickly is a real benefit for us,” he said. “We got some kids that are starting to get nicked up and got a couple colds, so the more rest you can give them the better I think.”
USU plays its next match against New Mexico State at the Spectrum at 7 p.m. on Saturday.
–p.d.k@aggiemail.usu.edu