Aggie volleyball beats Gonzaga for first Pac-12 win

Utah State Volleyball picked up its first Pac-12 conference win on Saturday, taking down Gonzaga three sets to one in the Wayne Estes Center. The win was not only the first conference win for Aggie volleyball, but the first win in Pac-12 competition across sports.

“It’s really cool. It’s really special. I mean, there’s a lot of exciting things I think for our athletic department being in the Pac-12 and for our volleyball program in particular,” head coach Keith Smith said. “It’s pretty special.”

The Aggies, sitting at 1-10 coming into the match, put together one of their most complete matches of the season to move to 1-1 in conference play after a loss at Texas State on Thursday.

“It was all systems going, kind of distributing the ball around as well; it was really fun. We’ve been practicing it obviously, and it just takes some time to get together and get it connected to what we want it,” Smith said. “We’re still not quite where we want to be and where we’re trying to be, but I think we’re making progress, and we can see progress, and our girls can see progress.”

Utah State hit over .300 in each of the four sets, topping out at .387 in the first set. USU ended the match with four players recording 10 or more kills for the first time this year and a season-high .357 hitting percentage.

The Aggies were led offensively by junior outside hitter Olivia Ruy, who hit an even .300, with 15 kills.

“It’s been, like I said, a privilege just to be able to be on the court and be able to feel supported by my teammates, but to also support my teammates from the court and celebrate successes that are happening right in front of me,” Ruy said. “I think for myself, a big part of it has just been gratitude and being able to be present, be where my feet are.”

The first set got off to a tight start, though the Bulldogs had their nose out in front for much of the set. Gonzaga found themselves up 20-16, fueled by outside hitter Claire Wagstaff, who had eight kills in the first set and 15 kills through the first two sets.

“That, obviously, became our number one goal was to slow her down,” Smith said. “That was our main thing in the talk after set two: we’ve got to slow her down because no one else was really beating us but her. And I think we did a really, really good job making some adjustments.”

The Aggies responded with a 5-1 run, tying the first set at 21, before pushing ahead to a 24-23 set point. The Zags responded in kind, though, tying it at 24 before ultimately pushing ahead for a 27-25 first-set victory.

The second set got off to a similar start, with the Bulldogs taking an early 15-11 advantage. The Aggies again responded strongly, ripping off a 7-1 run to take an 18-16 lead that they’d hold all the way to a 25-21 set win, tying the match at a set each.

It was all Aggies the rest of the way, as they cruised to take sets three and four 25-17 and 25-14, respectively, to win the match 3-1.

Utah State, after starting 0-8, has started to gain some confidence as it enters conference play and picks up a couple of wins.

“There are moments where I feel like, on the court, we’ve lost a little bit of confidence because we’re not where we want it to be, and we are such a talented group where we feel that we can be dominating when sometimes we aren’t,” Ruy said. “We’re not where we want to be yet, but even where we are now, we’re a great team, and we’re going to continue to get on the court and prove that and show how good we can be.”

The Aggies will continue a stretch of home matches next week as they’re back in action against Fresno State on Thursday afternoon.