Olympic Sports Recap: A Busy Weekend For Utah State Athletics
The final weekend of February was a busy one for Utah State athletics. Men’s and women’s basketball, volleyball, track and field, gymnastics, men’s tennis, and softball were all in action. Here’s a recap of the events:
Men’s Basketball
The Aggies picked up two massive victories over the Nevada Wolfpack on Friday and Sunday night in the Spectrum, jumping from No. 4 in the Mountain West to No. 3 and inching back into consideration for an at-large bid at the NCAA tournament.
In the first game, the Aggies shot 11-21 from beyond the arch and built up a 19-point second-half lead. But Nevada came storming back, hitting a barrage of threes in the waning minutes to cut it two but USU would hold on to win 75-72. You check out the full recap here.
On Sunday evening USU brought the energy on both sides of the ball and cruised to an 87 to 66 win. They outrebounded the Wolfpack 47 to 24 and had 20 points off of turnovers.
“It’s great to win back-to-back against those guys,” said head coach Craig Smith. “I thought we defended really well.”
Women’s Basketball
The Lady Aggies were overwhelmed by the New Mexico Lobos Sunday afternoon, falling 93 to 55 in the Spectrum. Junior Taylor Franson led the way for USU with 14 points and 13 rebounds, while senior Jessica Chapman had 13 points.
The Aggies (4-18, 2-15 in Mountain West play) struggled to shoot the ball, something that’s plagued them all season. They finished 20 of 63 (31.7 percent) from the field and 3 of 22 (13.6 percent) from beyond the arch. The Lobos had their way, shooting 36 of 77 (40.5 percent) and 15 of 37 (40.5 percent) from three.
Volleyball
Utah State (1-5) picked up their first victory of the Rob Neilson era Saturday night, defeating Fresno St. 3 to 1 in the second of a two-game road trip. After dropping the first set 28-26, the Aggies rattled off three straight wins, 25-23, 25-18, and 27-25 to claim victory.
Freshman hitter Tatum Stall led the way with a career-high 18 kills. Freshman Abby Peterson had a team-high 29 digs. As a whole, the Aggies hit a season-best .182 (54-24-165).
On Friday night against the Bulldogs USU won the first set, (25-23) before losing three straight to lose the match 2-1.
Track and Field
The Aggie track and field team traveled to the “At the Peak” meet in Colorado Springs on Friday – their first meet since last February of 2020 – and it didn’t disappoint.
The highlight was the mens’ distance medley relay, a four-man relay that starts with a 1200 meters run, then a 400 meter, followed by an 800, and anchored by the 1600 meter.
Led by sophomore athletes Christopher Kauffman, Josh Wintch, Mikhail Kidd and Devin Pancake, the Aggies won the race with a time of 10 minutes, 20.97 seconds, defeating Wichita State and Air Force.
Junior Hailey Suit competed in the 60 meters for the lady Aggies, placing No. 10 with a time of 7.57 – the second-fastest time in Utah State history.
Also, senior Luke Beatie started his outdoor season running at Trials of Miles Texas Qualifier in Austin, TX. He ran a 28:51.88 in the 10,000-meter run, the second-fastest time in school history.
Gymnastics
Senior Varnadore was first on the vaults with a score of 9.900, freshman Brianna Brooks finished second on the bars with a personal record of 9.875.
“We had an awesome meet,” said Utah State head coach Amy Smith. “We finally settled in and did the kind of gymnastics we have been seeing this team do in practice. The floor team did a great job tonight. The energy was there throughout the meet and it was just a great night.”
Softball
It was a successful weekend in St. George for the Aggie softball team. They played four games in two days, going 3 and 1 to improve their record to 5-8 on the season. On Friday they defeated Northern Colorado 4-3 before falling to Dixie State 5-3. On Saturday, they shut out the competition, defeating Weber State 2-0 and Northern Colorado 8-0.
Standing out was senior pitcher Delaney Hull. She pitched four innings against No. Colorado on Friday, giving up just one hit and no runs. On Saturday she pitched a complete game against Weber State, giving up four hits and no runs.
In the first game on Saturday against Weber State, the score was knotted up at zero until the 5th inning when junior Gabriella Jimenez got a base hit to send sophomore Tyler Thorton home for the game-winning run. In the second game, Jimenez hit a two-run homer in the first inning to go up 2-0, and the Aggies never looked back.
Men’s Tennis
Utah State took down Brigham Young 4-3 at home Saturday afternoon for their fifth win over the Cougars in the past seven years. The Aggies (5-2) went 3-3 in singles matches and won the doubles matches 2-1.
Sophomore Arvid Hjalte ultimately clinched it for USU, winning the final singles match of the day 7-6 (7-2), 7-6 (7-2).