Aggie volleyball plays marathon-style tournament over weekend
USU volleyball had a roller-coaster weekend at their most recent tournament in Kalamazoo, Mich., where each of their games extended into five sets. The Aggies opened on Friday morning with a five-set loss (25-27, 25-19, 25-17, 25-20, 5-15) against Loyola (Chicago).
After leading for the majority of the first set, Loyola caught up and tied it at 15-15. USU bounced back and took set point at 24-20, but the Ramblers answered back with a four-point run to tie again at 24-24. The Aggies went on to lose the frame 27-25. During the early beginnings of the second set of the match, Utah State went on a four-point run and took the lead 10-7, thanks to a kill by freshman middle Corinne Larsen. Utah State was able to stay ahead the rest of the set and won 25-19.
Loyola came out swinging in the third set and took control early on, 6-2, before USU tied the frame 13-13. Throughout the match, the Ramblers and Aggies played through 12 ties, and the Aggies had set points at 24-23 and 25-24 while Loyola came back to tie it once again at 25-25. The Ramblers wrapped up the set with a 27-25 win.
In the fourth set, the Aggies pulled out a six-point run and broke a 15-15 tie to launch them into a 21-15 lead. Loyola came within three at 23-20, but a kill by sophomore outside Bailey Downing and a block by senior middle Lauren O’Brien kept them ahead and won the set 25-20. During the fifth and final set, the Ramblers came out on top 15-5 to finish out the day victorious.
Saturday was the final day of tournament play, with games slated against Milwaukee and the hosts, Western Michigan. Of course, each of these games lasted five sets. The morning started off with a victory over Milwaukee (25-20, 24-26, 25-17, 17-25, 15-13). Sophomore outside hitter Gabbi Shumway had 16 kills that game, alongside Larsen who had 15, and Downing with 12. Senior setter Kassidy Johnson recorded a career-high of 21 digs, while senior libero Tasia Taylor racked up 26 digs on the back row.
The Aggies caught momentum in the first set with a nine-point run and locked down a lead of 18-12, and finished out the set 25-20. With the fire still ablaze, USU caught the lead again in the second set 6-1, before the Panthers took an eight-point run later on and gained control with their own lead of 22-21, and eventually won the set 26-24.
Now with an even match of 1-1, Utah State broke a 5-5 tie in the third set, thanks to Shumway and her back-to-back kills that propelled them to sprint to a 25-17 win. Things got interesting in the fourth set when Milwaukee took their turn to break a 5-5 tie and rush to the win with 25-17 and forcing the game into a fifth set. During the fifth and final set between the Aggies and the Panthers, Utah State broke an 8-8 tie, before playing through five ties including a 13-13 deadlock, before ultimately winning the match 15-13.
That night against Western Michigan, the Broncos took the beginning set with a 25-12 win. The second set ended in the Aggies’ favor with a 25-18 win after breaking a 5-5 tie and going on a four-point run to launch them in the winners seat. Another round of poor offense from USU in the third set allowed Western Michigan to win 25-12. Utah State was like a firecracker in the fourth set, bouncing back to battle for the 25-22 win, with 16 kills on 31 attempts, and a single error.
A five-point run in the fifth set of the night gave Western Michigan the upper-hand and kept Utah State from coming closer than four points down to the 15-8 victory.
After the matches, Taylor was named to the all-tournament team after leading USU in digs with a final weekend tally of 67.
The Aggies will be back in Logan on Friday, Sept. 14 to host Weber State in the second of two in-state matches this season for USU.