Ags stymie Spartans, go 2-0 in WAC
Sometimes showing a little emotion can be a good thing.
It proved to be so Saturday night for the USU women’s volleyball team in its 3-1 WAC victory (30-28, 19-30, 30-28, 30-25) in the Spectrum over the San Jose State Spartans.
Aggie Head Coach Grayson DuBose, who has rarely displayed intensity through yelling on the sidelines in home matches this season, decided during Game 3 that it was time to do so.
After dropping Game 2, his team (9-6, 2-0 in WAC play) found itself in a 9-15 hole to the Spartans (9-7, 0-2) in Game 3.
It was at that point that DuBose took a few steps towards the team on the court, yelling audibly, “You’ve got to be better than this! Get better!”
Must have worked.
The Aggies proceeded to chip away at the Spartans’ lead, eventually taking a 23-22 advantage on an Amanda Nielson kill.
From then on, Game 3 was back and forth before USU sealed the game as its own on a block assist by middle blocker Melissa Larson and outside hitter Beth Hodge.
“I felt like I needed to change something,” said DuBose, whose team is No. 2 in the WAC behind the New Mexico State Aggies. “That was the one thing I thought I could change was my demeanor a little bit, and let them know I wasn’t real pleased. But if there were 10,000 people in [the Spectrum] you wouldn’t have heard a peep out of me.”
It wasn’t just DuBose’s fire from the sidelines that was the difference maker. It was all-around communication from teammates.
In Game 1, the Aggies found themselves down 20-24 after a timeout.
Slowly but surely, they clawed their way back, winning the game on a kill by Larson.
“We started off a little slow,” said Larson, a redshirt freshman who finished the night with a career-high 10 blocks to go along with eight kills. “We were really quiet for a while. Then all of a sudden it started kicking in. We started talking a lot more. It’s really important to do.”
Nielson, who led the Aggies with 19 kills, nine block assists and seven digs, agreed, underlining the importance of each teammate’s contribution and communication.
“We’re the kind of team that when we get down, it’s just hard,” Neilson said. “One person leans on another and we slowly get down. All it takes is one person to get up and then we all get up. It takes that one person to say, ‘We’ve got this. Don’t worry about the past.'”
Who was that one person that did it Saturday night for the Aggies?
“I don’t know who it was, but somehow we got back up.” Nielson said. “”We battled through some tough times and made a couple rallies.”
Game 3’s weight carried into Game 4 for USU.
In the night’s final game, the Aggies hit a hot .386 to the Spartans’ .182.
That’s a good sign, considering USU’s average hitting percentage for the season is .161.
After taking a 16-15 lead, the Aggies never trailed again the rest of the night, though the Spartans did come back to tie the score twice.
Freshman outside hitter Hailey Jeppson recorded 15 kills, 11 digs and five block assists. Hodge tallied 16 kills, eight digs and five block assists.
Aggie notes: Opposite side hitter/middle blocker Monarisa Ale did not play Saturday night because of a sprained ankle she suffered Friday in practice. Her absence allowed for junior defensive specialist Traci Rainey (a Sky View high school graduate) to see playing time. Rainey had 10 digs and one kill against the Spartans. . . Thirteen of the Spartans’ 15 team members are from California. Eight players on the Aggies are from Utah . . Nielson is second in the WAC in points scored per game (5.06). As a team the Aggies are second in the WAC in the hitting percentage they hold opponents to (.156). . . USU next hosts the New Mexico State Aggies (Thursday, 7 p.m.) and the Louisiana Tech Bulldogs (Saturday, 7 p.m.)