Women’s volleyball swept by Fresno State

On Friday evening, the 3-12 Utah State women’s volleyball team hosted the 11-5 Fresno State Bulldogs. The Bulldogs swept the Aggies 3-0 (25-14, 25-22, 25-10).

The Bulldogs came into the game 3-0 in conference play, while the Aggies were sporting a 1-3 conference record. This is the first time that Fresno State has started out 3-0 in conference play.

The first set started off tied at two apiece, but Fresno State was awarded four straight points on attack errors by USU. The Aggies pulled within two to make the score 7-5, but immediately after, the Bulldogs rattled off seven straight points, five of which came by way of attacking errors.

The Aggies were awarded the next point, thanks to senior libero Tasia Taylor, making the score 14-6. That was the closest they would get the rest of the set, and they eventually dropped the first set by a margin of 25-14.

In the second set, the Aggies came out as if someone had lit a fire underneath them. While they did not hold the lead throughout the set, they were tied twice at 4-4 as well as 5-5.

The score was 10-9 in favor of Fresno State, when the Aggies gave up a 7-0 run which made it seem as if the Bulldogs had them down and out. While USU did eventually lose the set 25-22, they fought off five set points and came back from an eight point deficit.

“I think we found a little more passion for the game,” Taylor said of the Aggies’ performance in the second set. “I think we found our fight, and the team that we know we can be came out a little bit at the end there.”

The third set saw the visiting Bulldogs storm out to an 8-2 lead. The Aggies looked as if they were back in the first set in this one, rather than playing as they did in the second.

While they didn’t give up a run of more than four, they fell victim to three 4-0 runs, and two 3-0 runs. Those runs alone accounted for 18 of Fresno State’s points. The Aggies would wind up dropping the third consecutive set, along with the match, 25-10.

The Aggies will look to right the ship on Saturday at 1 p.m. as they take on the 3-14 San Diego State Aztecs at the Wayne Estes Center.

“They are a very physical team,” said Utah State head coach Grayson DuBose of the Aztecs. “They’re going to come out ready to play. I think they’re playing better, I think they have everyone back from their injuries.”

Number Crunching

• During Thursday’s matchup, the Aggies failed to break even on their attack percentage, hitting -.045%, something that they will definitely look to improve on for Saturday’s tilt with San Diego State. They will also look to drop the percent of sideouts they allow. Of the 47 serves they had on Thursday, the Bulldogs earned a sideout 70% of the time, leading to +27 serves for Fresno State.
• USU freshman outside hitter Whitney Solosabal earns a special mention as she set a new career high for digs with 10. That more than triples her total digs coming into this game.