Cernianska leads volleyball team past Cal Poly to first conference win
The Utah State volleyball team was able to hold on during a close fourth game against the Cal Poly Mustangs Saturday afternoon in the Spectrum to get its first conference win of the season.
“We have a very competitive team,” Utah State Head Coach Burt Fuller said. “We have been waiting for this win now for seven matches.”
“It feels so good to get a win at home,” junior Ingrid Roth said. “Finally, a conference win.”
Junior Zuzana Cernianska led the way for the Aggies with 15 kills and four service aces. Freshman Amanda Orgill was strong on offense as well with 14 kills and one ace.
Cal Poly sophomore Emily Doris was also a strong player for the Aggie offense, missing six balls off serves from the Aggies. Serve receives were something both teams struggled with. The Aggies missed ten balls off the serve and the Mustangs missed nine serves from USU.
“[The first conference win] feels very good,” Fuller said. “I think our kids fought hard at times. Cal Poly didn’t roll over. Obviously they came out really good in the third game and we were really lax. The team really wanted that first conference win.”
It seemed the match was over after the first game. Utah State came out strong and quickly went up 6-0. The team continued to dominate and won the game 30-18.
The second game started out much like the first. The Ags jumped out to an early 6-3 lead and kept adding to it from there until they were up 27-16 with the second win in sight. Fuller even put freshman Jessica Chick in, the first time she’s played all season.
However, the Ags slowed up a little and Cal Poly turned up their intensity with a 7-1 run that brought the score to 24-28. The Ags, struggling to hold on to their lead, were able to squeeze out two points from senior Kindy Peterson for the win in game two.
“I think sometimes when you have a young group and they’re not used to playing college volleyball and rally scores, you forget how easily things can slip away,” Fuller said. “You have to work hard to get ahead and you have to work hard to stay ahead and win it.”
Cal Poly’s intensity in the second game carried them through game three, never letting the Aggies have the lead and winning 30-19.
“We knew we had to pick up our energy to win the game,” freshman Amanda Fahnestock said. “I think we got a little too relaxed. We realized that we needed to get it all together and play. Just step it up and get this game, this conference win.”
In the fourth and final game, both teams were fighting for the win. The Aggies had the lead for all of the game, but Cal Poly was always just one point behind.
Fahnestock said that is something that is seen a lot in volleyball.
During game four, there was one long rally the Aggies won that set the tone for the rest of the match. The ball went back and forth eight times and finally ended with a kill from sophomore Dominique Arsenault. The Ags went up 16-14 and had the momentum to win the rest of the match.
“Any time you win a rally like that it feels really good,” Fuller said. “If you lose a rally like that, all of a sudden you’re really tired. It was a fun rally to watch and our team has had a tendency to win a lot of long rallies against teams. Maybe that propelled us through the rest of the match.”
Fuller added that during the final game, he just kept thinking that the team had to hold its lead. He said it seemed the Ags were always just one point ahead until the very end.
“It was very important to just hold the lead so that we didn’t feel like we were letting things slip away again,” he said.
“It was good for us to adjust,” Roth said. “We came back in the fourth and knew what we had to do. In the fourth game we realized we can’t turn it off.”
The Ags were able to hold on to win the game 30-26. The Aggies are now 1-6 in the conference and no longer tied for last with Cal Poly, now 0-7 in the conference.
With so many young players filling starting positions, Fuller said he is trying to look at the big picture. He said the experience this season for the freshmen will help them for next season.
He added that next season the team is going to have some depth. He will have his injured starters back and his freshmen will have some good experience under their belts.
“In the whole picture, you have to realize getting experience now is that much better for them,” Fuller said. “They’re getting one jump ahead. It will be better in the long run.”
The Aggies will next face in-state rivals Weber State on Tuesday at the Spectrum.
-aedmunds@cc.usu.edu