Career highs propel USU volleyball to win
The Utah State volleyball team ended a five game losing streak Tuesday night with a 3-2 win over the visiting Utah Valley Wolverines.
“We’re comfortable, we’re hitting the ball at a good pace and we’re making smart shots,” said Utah State head coach Grayson DuBose. “That makes all the difference in the world.”
After a strong first set, the Aggies fell behind 2-1 entering the pivotal fourth set. Utah State jumped out to a 6-2 lead and seemed in control, but the Wolverines fought their way within two points late in the set before the Aggies closed out the game with a 7-3 run.
Sophomore outside hitter Rachel Gale had four kills during the run on her way to a career-high 27 kills on .365 shooting on the night.
“As you go and as you realize that you’re connecting with the setter then you feel like you can take more chances and be more aggressive, that’s what happened,” Gale said.
The Aggies relied on Gale late as she scored six kills in each of the final two sets.
“You’ve got to dance with who brought you and she was bringing it so we thought we might as well keep riding it,” DuBose said.
Utah State started the fifth set in a slump, allowing Utah Valley to jump out to a 4-1 lead. Two attacking errors by the Wolverines gave the Aggies a mini-run before junior Kaylie Kamalu scored to give the Aggies an 8-6 lead. Gale’s final kill of the night gave Utah State a 14-12 lead and a ball handling error by Utah Valley scored the winning point.
“We just talked to them about the same stuff we talked about in practice and getting them to respond like it is practice,” DuBose said. “You know, go hit the ball like we do every day of the week.”
The Aggies took a 22-18 lead in the first set, but fell behind 24-23 after a kill by UVU middle blocker Kiahna Steiner. Gale tied the match at 24, but Steiner responded with another kill to give Utah Valley the set point. The Aggies scored the next three points to win the game, highlighted by redshirt sophomore middle blocker Carly Lenzen’s kill on the final point.
Utah State dropped the second and third set before responding in the fourth game.
“We kept telling each other ‘You’ve got the next ball, you’ve got the next ball,’” freshman setter Kassidy Johnson said. “I think it was more of we needed to be there for our teammates and not be so worried about what we did wrong and worry about what we’re going to do right.”
After dropping games to Utah and Southern Utah earlier this season, the Aggies were excited for another opportunity to play an in-state rival.
“It’s an in-state match and those are always fun; there’s a lot of action and a lot of emotion that go into that,” DuBose said. “Utah Valley plays with a high level of emotion and I thought we matched that.”
The team responded well to an excited crowd of nearly 900 in the Wayne Estes Center, DuBose said.
“We were at home and that’s comfortable,” DuBose said. “We love playing in the Estes – hashtag Estes Magic.”
In addition to Gale’s career night, Johnson had a career high with 54 assists and junior libero Hannah Gleason had a career high 28 digs.
Junior outside hitter Kaylie Kamalu had a double-double with 19 kills and 11 digs.
Utah State will take to the road Friday and Saturday as it plays Northern Colorado, Indiana and Eastern Kentucky in the two-day Northern Colorado Classic.
– Thomas.sorenson@aggiemail.usu.edu
Twitter: @tomcat340