Nielson ties school record, Aggie spikers sweep through the weekend, winning two
Lately, anything but a school record would be a disappointing night for Amanda Nielson.
The Aggies’ senior opposite hitter has tied the three-game kills record of 24 in her last two matches. First, at home Thursday against Idaho, and then on the road Saturday at Boise State – both 3-0 Utah State victories. The three-game kills record was set by Amy Crosbie in a 2000-match against Pacific.
To top off Nielson’s eight kills-per-game average this weekend, she hit over .300 in both matches – .312 against the Vandals and .353 at BSU.
Her head coach, Grayson DuBose, saw it all coming.
“Grayson, before, he came up to me and he said, ‘You’re going to have a good game,'” Nielson said Thursday night.
“I’m smart, aren’t I?” DuBose joked after the Idaho match. “… I just felt like she was due for a good game.”
Nielson wasn’t nearly as clairvoyant as her coach, though.
“I didn’t realize I had that many (kills),” she said. “I was feeling it, but I don’t really think about how many I have. I just go up and hit it, but it would have been great to beat (the record).”
Record or not, Nielson’s hitting propelled the Ags to an undefeated weekend, where they didn’t even drop a single game.
But it wasn’t just Nielson.
Thursday’s match against Idaho saw Utah State hit .263 as a team, with 50 kills, and against Boise State, USU hit a season-high .381 with 59 kills.
Despite the good percentages, USU started slow in game one against the Vandals, only hitting .194. They were able to turn things around behind the hitting of Nielson and junior outside hitter Melissa Osterloh, who had six and four kills, respectively.
The Aggies were able to take charge late in games two and three Thursday to win each by five points or more.
Much of the momentum late in games against Idaho came from good serving, something DuBose credited with the victory.
“That was a big strength to all of our servers,” he said. “We didn’t get a bunch of aces today, but we served them out of system, where they didn’t feel comfortable running their offense.”
USU recorded three service aces Thursday evening, one each from Nielson, junior Heather Hillier and sophomore middle blocker Danielle Taylor.
Taylor did more than serve well for the Aggies.
Against Idaho, she racked up eight kills and hit .500. Her hot streak continued Saturday at BSU, where she recorded a career-high 12 kills while maintaining a .500 hitting average.
“Dani Taylor is becoming a great volleyball player,” DuBose said Thursday. “When she got here she was an athlete, she could jump high. Now she’s learning how to be a volleyball player and how to compete and how to hit for high percentages and not make errors.”
In Boise, the Ags got off to a quick start, hitting .405 with 19 kills in a two-point win in game one against the Broncos.
Although they weren’t as hot as game one – hitting .361 compared to .405 – in game two the Aggies cruised to an 11-point victory, which they followed up by a 30-28 win to seal the sweep.
The Utah State defense was also good. Boise only hit .151, and USU recorded 19 more digs than the Broncos (52-33) and 3.5 more team blocks (5.5-2.0).
Nielson and the Aggies will look to build on their hot play and two-game winning streak when they travel to Weber State Tuesday before returning home for matches against Utah Valley on Thursday and Fresno State on Saturday. All games start at 7 p.m.
-da.bake@aggiemail.usu.edu