Aggie Spikers take the high road
The Utah State women’s volleyball team didn’t expect to go five games Thursday against Cal State Fullerton.
And although the Aggies weren’t going to make the same mistake again by underestimating their opponent, they definitely came out with more of a purpose Saturday against UC Riverside.
Utah State knocked off UCR 3-0 (30-18, 30-13, 30-20) in the Spectrum.
“We were just pissed [against the Highlanders],” said USU setter Andrea Delsigne. “We wanted to win and we were making up for Thursday.”
Middle blocker Erin Cartwright said one of the team’s goals was to come out with more of a sense of urgency.
She said the biggest lesson the team learned against the Titans was that they need to come out stronger.
“Who cares who you are playing,” Cartwright said. “You have to come out and play your best every game.”
Said Utah State Head Coach Burt Fuller, “I felt that we were playing a little better than we were the other night. I just felt better. We talked about how we came out for our warm-ups and things like that. I felt like we had more of a sense of urgency.”
And of course when the team is playing up to its level and winning, the players have more fun on the court.
Cartwright said she noticed against UCF that the team wasn’t as excited as it needed to be. She said she worked to get everyone more excited, to jump around and just be a little more “girlie.”
USU (12-7 overall and 5-4 in the Big West Conference) was led by Cartwright who finished with 17 kills off 24 attempts and a mere one error for a .667 hitting percentage.
She passed her previous best hitting percentage of .607, which came last season against Idaho with 17 kills on 28 attempts and no errors.
“It was a good weekend for her,” Fuller said. “We need production out of her and Zuzana [Cernianska] if we are going to be successful.”
Fuller said it also helps when other players such as opposite side hitter Mari Ruddick and middle blocker Ingrid Roth step up because it takes some of the pressure off the usual go-to hitters.
Ruddick had a solid performance with six kills and a .278 hitting percentage, while Roth also added six kills with a .300 hitting percentage.
Cernianska had 13 kills off 27 attempts for a .370 hitting percentage. She also added seven digs.
Cartwright and libero Taubi Neves led the team with eight digs apiece.
The Highlanders were led by Jamie DeKiewiet with 13 kills on 34 attempts for a .147 hitting percentage. She also had seven digs.
“[Riverside] is a team that has had some real nice victories so far this season,” Fuller said. “Maybe this has just been a tough weekend for them.”
UCR is 7-13 on the season and is in seventh place in the BWC with a 2-7 league record. The Highlanders fell in three games (30-25, 31-29, 30-19) to Idaho Thursday.
-juag@cc.usu.edu