Four-set win
Thursday night was a busy one for senior All-American Liz McArthur, as she led the Utah State women’s volleyball team past Louisiana Tech in four sets, 3-1. The Preseason All-WAC team member had a team-high 20 kills, as the Aggies improved to 2-1 in Western Athletic Conference play.
“She had a really nice match,” USU head coach Grayson DuBose said, of Mcarthur’s play. “She hit a bunch of different shots, not just the same shot all the time. Hitting down the line, hitting high seam, doing that kind of stuff. There was a lot of variety in her game.”
What was an even match between the two teams, was blown open midway through the first set as the Aggies used a 7-2 run to open up a lead on the Bulldogs. From there, Utah State steadily increased its lead and freshman outside hitter Rachel Orr put the finishing touch on the first set, 25-19. Orr had a career-high 14 kills on the night.
“It was a really nice night by her,” DuBose said, of Orr. “She’s done a really nice job.”
Orr has filled in, for the past two matches, for junior outside hitter Josselyn White, who is out with ankle injury.
“We miss Josselyn’s experience, but Rachel is getting experience, which is cool,” DuBose said.
Orr played well on both sides of the ball, starting the second set with a block on defense and finished with two blocks for the match. The Aggie offense then picked up where it left off, mounting a comfortable lead and cruising to the win in the second set, by a score of 25-14. Redshirt freshman setter Paige Neves recorded 11 of her 48 kills, during the second set, as the Bulldogs struggled to contain the Aggies.
“(Paige) does a nice job. She’s learning. I forget that she’s only a freshman,” Dubose said. “She’s improved quite a bit, and her work ethic is good.”
Neves was only two assists shy of her career high of 50.
“I expect different things out of her,” DuBose said.
Down by three, midway through the third set, it looked like Louisiana Tech was on the way to being swept. A 10-3 run by the Bulldogs turned that deficit into a seven-point advantage and a 25-21 win, to avoid the shutout. The Lady Techsters were led by junior outside hitter Marcella Braz, who had nine kills to go with nine digs on the night. The Bulldogs also got solid performances out of freshman middle blocker Regan Himmelberg and sophomore blocker Caitlin Germany, each with four kills.
The Aggies bounced back in the fourth set, starting with a 5-0 run and never looking back, putting Louisiana Tech away by a margin of 25-12, while McArthur had five of her 20 kills in the set.
“Defensively we did some nice things, and offensively we had a nice night as well,” DuBose said. “You look across the board and we got some stuff done tonight.”
The Aggies had a .237 hitting percentage as a team, for the night, but DuBose said the Aggies played better than the stats show.
“If you discount the third game where we had 11 errors, we were over .300, so it was a nice match for us offensively,” DuBose said.
USU will next face the crimson-clad Aggies of New Mexico State Saturday, Oct. 1, at 7 p.m. in Las Cruces, NM.
– curtis.lundstrom@aggiemail.usu.edu