Aggie volleyball drops three straight at Baden Classic
It was a rough weekend for the Utah State women’s volleyball team. The Aggies traveled to Long Beach, Calif., to take part in The Baden Classic, only to come up empty. USU falls to 3-6 on the season and now prepares for a big home match against in-state rival Brigham Young University.
Oregon State 3, USU 0
The Aggies were swept in their first match of the tournament by the Oregon State Beavers, 3-0. With the loss, the Aggies fell to 4-4 on the season.
Senior outside hitter Liz McArthur led the Aggies with 10 kills and 14 digs, but it wasn’t enough to keep pace with the Beavers.
The Aggies got off to a slow start, falling behind early in each set, and couldn’t overcome the lethargy. The Oregon State offense proved too much to handle for the Aggies, slowing each comeback attempt.
Down two, at 12-14, midway through the first set, both the USU offense and the defense seemed to hit a wall, scoring only two points the rest of the way, and letting the OSU offense run away with the set, 25-14.
Junior outside hitter Josselyn White also performed well for the Aggies, recording a team-high 14 points, and also had 9 digs. She had a .303 hitting percentage for the match.
The Aggies never led in set two, quickly falling behind, 4-0, under a high-octane attack by the Beaver hitters. USU battled back though, tying the set at 11 before a decisive scoring run led by OSU junior outside hitter Camille Saxton. Saxton had 17 kills on the night, including several key points, preventing the Aggies from building momentum to stage a comeback.
The Aggies played their best volleyball of the night during the third set, overcoming another 4-0 deficit. USU stormed back and took a 10-7 lead, but couldn’t hold on to keep themselves alive, dropping the final set by a score of 25-21.
Long Beach 3, USU 0
Utah State’s fortune didn’t change much in their second game of The Baden Classic. Tournament host and ranked 22nd, Long Beach State made quick work of the Aggies, finishing them off in three sets, 25-22, 25-22 and 25-17. McArthur again led the Aggies, recording 14 kills, hitting .263 and a notching a team-high 15 points.
Junior opposite side hitter Shay Sorensen had an excellent performance, hitting .375 to lead the team for the match. Sorensen had nine points, eight of those coming on kills. Red-shirt freshman setter Paige Neves recorded 30 assists to lead the Aggies.
The Aggies started the first set strong against the 49ers, only to see a one-point lead turn into a five-point deficit, as Long Beach State went on a 7-1 run.
Led by the balanced attacks of Caitlin Ledoux, Haleigh Hampton and Janisa Johnson, the 49ers built a lead the Aggies could not overcome. Utah State managed to pull back within two, but after a USU service error, Long Beach put the final point away.
A very competitive second set saw Utah State build as much as a five-point lead, but the 49ers stormed back. Teams traded points back and forth, with the score being tied on four different occasions.
With the score at 22-22, Ledoux gave the 49ers the lead for good. Long Beach scored the final three points of the set on a Ledoux kill, an Erin Juley kill, and a combined block to finish it off.
Long Beach gave the Aggies no hope that they could push the match to a fourth or fifth set, racing to an early third set lead they would not relinquish. The Aggies trailed by as many as six, and despite the best efforts of White and McArthur, USU could not stick with Long Beach. The 49ers won the final set with ease, 25-17, to close out the match.
Southern Methodist 3, USU 1
A discouraging and disappointing tournament weekend came to a close Saturday night for the Aggies, as they dropped their final match in four sets to Southern Methodist University. McArthur once again had a solid night for the Aggies, with 18 kills and 16 digs. White was right behind with 17 kills, and six blocks.
While the Aggies had good performances from key players, as a team they were unable to keep up with the Mustangs. Utah State had three players with kills in the double digits, getting solid outings by McArthur, White and Sorenson. Utah State fell to 4-6 on the season, while SMU improved to 4-5.
The Mustangs had to endure a late run by the Aggies to win the first set, but managed to hold off the run to win 25-21. There was no doubt during the second set the Mustangs would win, however, as SMU easily handled the Aggies on its way to a 25-13 win.
It was the third set that the Aggies finally got in the win column, holding on to win a tight set, 25-23. The Aggies went down swinging in the fourth set, winning multiple SMU match points before finally falling 26-28.
The Aggies will look to put their rough weekend behind them on Tuesday when in-state rival BYU visits Logan The match is scheduled for 7 p.m. in the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum.
– curtis.lundstrom@aggiemail.usu.edu