Aggie volleyball starts BW play off with win
There are only two Utah State volleyball players who hail from Utah – valley native Erin Cartwright and Erin Graybill who is from Sandy.
There are also only two spikers who are from California, a state that usually supplies most Aggie athletes.
So, Utah State’s 34-36, 29-31, 30-25 and 30-27 defeat was a homecoming of sorts for a few associated with the volleyball squad.
Aggie Head Coach Burt Fuller and assistant coaches Heather Olmstead and Emerson Salonga are all from California.
Fuller has coached at Chico State, Fresno State, Los Angeles Pierce Junior College and UCLA all before coming to USU.
Olmstead graduated from Utah State in 2002, but she is from Carpinteria, Calif.
Salonga graduated from the University of Illinois in 1995, he was a volunteer assistant coach at the University of California at Berkeley in 2002.
Opposite side hitter Mari Ruddick and setter Andrea Delsigne had the opportunity to go to their home state on Thursday as they headed to Cal State Northridge to take on the Matadors in the Big West Conference opener.
USU continues its California swing as it heads to Pacific on Saturday to take on the nationally-ranked No. 20 Tigers.
“We’ve seen Pacific on tape,” said Fuller during practice on Tuesday. “We’ve been looking forward to starting conference.”
Although the Aggies return to the Spectrum for the first time in seven matches to take on the University of Utah in a non-conference match, the Aggies host Idaho on Thursday for their first home Big West game.
Cartwright recorded a match-high 24 kills, 18 digs and six blocks to lead Utah State to the four-game victory over Cal State Northridge.
It was the first conference match for both teams.
The win improves Utah State’s record to 7-3 on the season and 1-0 in Big West action. The Matadors dropped to 4-4 overall and 0-1 in conference.
The Aggies hit .305 and Cal State Northridge hit .302 in the first game.
The second game was a different story, though. Despite hitting only .191 in the second game, the Aggies came out on top.
Yet again, the third game was a different story.
The Aggies hit .231, but held the Matadors to a mere .098 hitting percentage.
In the final game, Utah State hit .319, while Cal State Northridge hit .273.
Opposite side hitter Zuzana Cernianska also played well for the Aggies, recording 22 kills and 15 digs. Ruddick had a season-high 14 kills and hit .440 in the match.
Senior libero Taubi Neves had 14 digs and freshman outside hitter Beth Hodge had 12 kills.
Overall, the Aggies outhit the Matadors .266 to .239. USU also had four more kills (77-73) and four more team blocks (10-6) in the match.
Prior to Pacific’s close five-game win over Idaho at home on Thursday, the Tigers fell 3-1 to No. 7 Pepperdine (32-34, 30-23, 30-20, 30-19) last Saturday. The match was tape-delayed on College Sports Television last Sunday.
Pacific was voted to finish third in the Big West Conference in the preseason poll.
Senior middle blocker Jennifer Joines leads the Tigers. She was picked to represent the United States at the XIV Pan American Games in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic last August.
Long Beach State star Brittany Hochevar will also represent the United States.
“I am really looking forward to international competition this summer,” Joines said in a press release prior to the event. “I really enjoy playing against teams from different countries with completely different styles and strategies. In the meantime, I am trying to get bigger, faster and stronger for a great season at Pacific.”
The game is slated to start at 7 p.m. local time.
-juag@cc.usu.edu