Aggie spikers rebound from Pacific loss, hammer ISU
Idaho State University hung tough for two games against the Utah State women’s volleyball team on Tuesday night in Pocatello, Idaho, but the Aggies were able to sweep the Bengals 30-21, 30-25, 30-17.
In the first game, Utah State jumped out to an early lead before ISU came back and took the lead 10-9. The Aggies were not down for long, though, scoring six straight points with defensive specialist Heather Olmstead serving to go up 17-12.
Points in the game were the back and forth before the Aggies closed the game with a 11-5 run to earn the 30-21 victory in game one.
The Aggies hit .344 in the first game while holding Idaho State to only .132 hitting.
The Bengals went ahead early in the second game, but the Aggies used a five point run to pull ahead for good at 9-5. The Aggies kept pulling away, going up by as many as seven at 26-19, before ISU made one final run at the end.
Down by six at game point, the Bengals scored three straight points before a service error cost them a point and gave the game to the Aggies, 30-25.
After giving up the first point in game three, the Aggies scored 12 of the next 14 points to take a 12-3 lead. Utah State continued to roll through the match, but Idaho State would not go away.
Late in the game, Idaho State made two short runs, but the first was ended by a service error and the second ended off a kill by outside hitter Lisa Borom.
Leading by eight, 25-17, defensive specialist Traci Ostler entered the game to serve for outside hitter Erin Cartwright. Behind Ostler’s serving, the Aggies scored five straight points to take the game, 30-17, and the match.
For the third game, the Aggies had 19 kills and only two errors on their way to hitting .447 for the game, .313 for the match.Idaho State finished the match with a.177 hitting percentage.
The Aggies were led by Cartwright, who had 14 kills, Borom, a .400 hitting percentage with 10 kills and outside hitter Tanya McArthur Birch who hit .370 with 12 kills and only two errors.
Behind the service line the Aggies turned in 11 service aces and only four errors. Setter Chelsi Neves led with three aces while Birch, Borom and Cartwright each had two.
“We’re happy about the way we served,” USU Head Coach Burt Fuller said. “We were able to find a couple of players there in certain rotations. We were able to go to and get a couple of balls off.”
Middle blocker Michelle Matheson said, “We did well. We messed them up a lot. Our serving was good.”
Fuller said, “We’re the kind of team that doesn’t get a ton of service aces, but we try to serve effectively and try to put people in trouble. We have to do that because we don’t typically block a lot of balls against a great offense.”
The Aggies did have some success blocking, though, out-blocking the Bengals 8-6. Matheson led the Aggies, recording seven block assists for the match.
“We’re not a big team,” Fuller said. “I think we can get in the way, I think we can get in front of people pretty well. They struggled a little bit with their passing and we were a little bit more able to get two [blockers] in front of their hitters”
Borom said, “We were better at closing the block tonight and so that helps us not let a lot of balls go through. It’s always fun when you block a lot of balls because we aren’t really a big blocking team.
Tuesday’s game was the Aggies fifth victory in the last six matches, moving them to 15-8 on the season.
Thursday night in the Spectrum, the Aggies will face No. 1 Long Beach State University, currently undefeated this season at 21-0.
“Long Beach State is right now the best team in the country,” Fuller said. “We’re the underdog, so it’s always easier to go out as the underdog and just take some whacks.”
Borom said, “You have nothing to lose. Every kill you get, every ace you get, every pass you get, it’s a great feeling because you’re playing the number one team in the nation and they’re probably going to go and take a national championship.”