First game of WAC play ends in victory
Stress, anxiety, aggravation or exasperation. Take your pick.
The USU volleyball team went through most, if not all, those emotions in its 3-1 WAC-opening win at the Spectrum Thursday night against the Fresno State Bulldogs (2-10, 0-1 in WAC play).
After the Aggies (8-7, 1-0) smoothly took game one 30-17 and dropped the second game 28-30, both teams went through a little more than they desired in game three.
The Aggies eventually took it 42-40 after a wild ride of a game that featured 17 ties and nine lead changes.
Nevermind the six serving errors the Aggies posted in game three. They didn’t look back after surviving that scare, winning game four 30-22.
“Stress,” Aggie outside hitter Beth Hodge said to describe game three. “Stressful. Forty-two-forty is a tight one. It was good to win. We worked under pressure well. They bounced back and screwed up, too, so in the end whoever could hold it together for two points straight (won).”
And the team’s mindset during that time?
“Play hard,” said Hodge, who recorded 15 kills, 11 digs, and had a .412 attacking percentage. “Point by point. ‘Ok, we’re tied, get the next one. Okay, now we’re down one, don’t screw up. We’re tied, get the next one. We’re down, don’t miss your serve.’ That was the thought process.”
Freshman outside hitter Hailey Jeppson had her best game yet as an Aggie.
Jeppson, who came in battling a cold, tallied 21 kills, 13 digs, and had a .308 attacking percentage.
“My throat hurt coming into the game,” Jeppson said. “And now it hurts even more because I was screaming the whole time. It was very exciting.”
Behind Jeppson was junior outside hitter Amanda Nielson’s performance. Despite nine service errors, she notched 18 kills and 10 digs
Vital to victory was USU’s positive response when the pressure clamps were applied, something that it has struggled with mightily so far this season.
“We were good under pressure in that third game,” Aggie head coach Grayson DuBose said. “Our team typically hasn’t been so good under pressure. Maybe it’s just because (the Bulldogs) weren’t so good under pressure. (But) it can’t make us worse. It’s gotta make us better.”
At one point in game three the Aggies held a 12-5 lead.
Later on they were up 29-26 before the Bulldogs battled back to tie the score and create a see-saw game from then on until the score got into the 40s.
The Aggies hit a season-high .287 during the night, including a .355 mark in game one. They also held the Bulldogs to a .134 percentage.
And, despite 16 service errors on the night, the Aggies still managed to pull off the win.
With all those errors and the fact that his team nearly let game three slip away, DuBose was left scratching his head after the game.
“I look at the stats and it felt a lot closer than it ended up being,” DuBose said. “I don’t know what made it feel so close. Maybe it’s just because we’re young and I expect our inexperience to kick in. (But) I thought we got better and better as the match went on.”
The coaches and players were also quick to point out that the Bulldogs are better than their 2-10 record would suggest.
“They had a tough, tough preseason, so they were fearless,” Hodge said of the Bulldogs, who have played five top 25 teams already this season, losing to each.
Saturday at 7 p.m. in the Spectrum the Aggies host the San Jose State Spartans (9-5, 0-1), who lost Thursday night to the Nevada Wolfpack 1-3.