Aggie spikers sweep UC Riverside
Any time an athletic team can get every available player in the game, it’s an added bonus. This was the case for the Utah State University women’s volleyball team in the Aggies 30-13, 30-16, 30-21 drubbing of the University of California at Riverside on Saturday night in the Spectrum.
With the victory, the Aggies improved to 13-7 on the season (9-3 in the Big West Conference).
“It was nice to be able to get everybody a little time in [the match],” Head Coach Burt Fuller said. “They’ve earned it; they deserved it.”
Senior defensive specialist Heather Olmstead said, “As starters, we want to get a lead so they [the reserves] can play. We really enjoyed ourselves tonight.”
Throughout the course of the season, Fuller has said the reserves have been instrumental in preparing the team for its matches. The hard work put in by the back-ups go largely unnoticed by the casual fan, he said.
“It’s unfortunate that people don’t get a chance to come to practice and watch us play every day,” he said. “We play well because we have a good group of players.”
Not only did it give them a chance to play, Olmstead said, but valuable match experience as the Aggies will lose five seniors at the end of the season.
“That’s going to be their team next year, so they better get used to it,” Olmstead said.
As easy as the victory was, the Highlanders came out strong, taking an 11-7 lead in the first game. However, it wouldn’t last.
Following a Lisa Borom kill, the Aggies took complete control. With Olmstead serving, USU strung together 14 straight points, turning an 11-8 deficit into a 22-11 advantage.
“We got them in a rotation they struggled to get out of,” Fuller said.
After the Highlanders (8-15, 1-13 in the BWC) scored to stop the run, the Aggies put together a 7-0 run, furthering the momentum USU wouldn’t relinquish.
For the game, USU held Riverside to an atrocious
.-067 hitting percentage.
In fact, middle blocker Michelle Matheson had as many kills (six) as the entire Highlander team.
Game one was a precursor of things to come for the Aggies defensively.
For the match, USU collected 64 digs – including 12 by Olmstead in the first game – 22 block assists and limited the Highlanders to a paltry 27 kills on 131 attempts.
“We talked about making effort plays and being in control of what we do on our side of the net,” Fuller said. “That was nice to see.”
Among the players that helped stymie the Highlander attack was Alaska-Anchorage transfer Cami Gardner. The seldom-used middle blocker posted a match-high six block assists, while playing in just two games.
“We were really playing well together,” Gardner said. “We just had the connection going tonight. It was so fun to watch.”
Fun for the Aggies as they put together several three-and four-point scoring runs in the second game to take a commanding 2-0 game lead.
While the defense shined in the first game, it was the offense’s turn to shine in game two.
USU hit a whopping .500 in the second game with only one attack error.
Both Lisa Borom and Erin Cartwright enjoyed big matches, combining for 25 kills and only one attack error.
For the match, Cartwright hit .600, including an amazing .900 through two games.
“Most of the time, I was one-on-one [against the defender], making it easy to get a kill,” Cartwright said.
Behind the precision passing of setter Chelsi Neves (43 assists), the Aggies were able to isolate their hitters all night long, hitting .277 for the match.
“The thing I was most happy about was our handling of the ball, to get it to Chelsi so we can isolate [our hitters],” Fuller said.
Not only did the team play with a lot of fire, Fuller said, but that energy was echoed by the crowd as well.
“I really heard everybody out tonight,” he said. “I think that really inspired our team.”