Aggie Volleyball drops close game to conference-leader UNLV
LOGAN — Utah State Volleyball suffered its fifth Mountain West Conference loss to league leader UNLV in five sets (24-26, 25-15, 25-18, 24-26, 8-15). The Aggies fell to 15-8 and 7-5 in conference play.
Coming into the game, UNLV rode a 10-game winning streak with an impressive 19-3 overall record and 10-1 in conference play. Utah State had something to prove after falling to UNLV in Las Vegas on Oct. 13 in five sets.
Similar to their last meeting, UNLV won the first two sets 25-22, both with close scores just like today. Utah State dominated their winning sets 25-16 and 25-17, but in the end, what happened in Vegas didn’t stay in Vegas and UNLV would win the fifth set 15-8 just like they did two and a half weeks ago.
Despite the loss, it was a career night for junior outside hitter Tatum Stall. She had 27 kills, beating her previous career high of 21, on 56 attempts and a 33.6% attack percentage. In addition to her career-high in kills, she also achieved her career-high in total points with 30.0.
27 kills is the most by a USU player since Sept. 22, 2016, when Kaylie Kamala-Smith had 30 kills against Nevada.
“I was just swinging away, we really had nothing to lose against the top team in the conference and might as well go out with a bang,” Stall said. “It’s not all about hitting the ball right to the ground.”
Stall had previously reached a career-high of 21 two games in a row earlier this season.
“She was unbelievable. She carried us for a long period of stretches. That’s the type of player that Tatum is,” head coach Rob Neilson said. “She keeps growing and feeling more comfortable with that role and we are excited to see more of that from her.”
A glaring statistic in the Aggies’ loss was the amount of errors. Utah State committed 32 errors, to UNLV’s 21. Neilson said the errors have been a big problem in other close conference games.
“We felt like we have given it away a little bit against the best teams in the conference,” Neilson said.
After losing the first set, the Aggies dominated in sets two and three, winning them with a combined score of 50-31. But ultimately, it didn’t swing their way.
In set four, Utah State trailed 20-24, and just four points later the Aggies had tied it at 24. But it wouldn’t be enough as UNLV would win the next two points to tie the sets at 2-2.
In the fifth set, the Aggies had an early 3-3 tie, but UNLV would use two three-point runs to extend their lead out of USU’s reach.
Utah State will be on the road for its next two games at Fresno State and San Diego State. Both teams are in the bottom four in the conference. The Aggies will then return home to face San Jose State on Nov. 10 and Nevada on Nov. 12.
Featured image by Sam Warner from the UVU game.