Spikers advance to second round
In a classic match between in-state rivals, the Utah State University women’s volleyball team was the last one standing in its NCAA Tournament first-round match against BYU. The Aggies defeated the Cougars in five games – 30-26, 29-31, 30-23, 27-30, 16-14.
With USU up 15-14 in the decisive fifth game, middle blocker Erin Cartwright came up with the knock-out punch, blocking an attack by BYU middle blocker Jackie Bundy, propelling USU to a 3-2 victory in a match that lasted nearly two and one-half hours Thursday night at the University of Utah’s Crimson Court.
“It was a pretty exciting match,” USU Head Coach Burt Fuller said. “We beat a pretty good team and that’s what made it special.”
With the victory, the Aggies advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament for the second consecutive year and avenged their NCAA loss to BYU in the second round last season.
BYU was knocked out in the first round for the first time since 1991.
In the first game, USU went up early scoring the first four points and eventually jumped out to a 17-9 lead. With the Aggies leading 26-19, BYU would make a final run, scoring seven straight points to tie the game at 26-26 before the Aggies closed the game with four straight points.
The second game started out much the same as the first with the Aggies going up 7-4 before a BYU run pulled the Cougars ahead 7-8.
The score stayed close the remainder of the game with neither team able to build a lead of more than two points.
Trailing 22-24, the Aggies scored three straight to take the lead, but it was short-lived as BYU immediately regained control at 26-25. The Aggies were able to tie the game at 29-29 before finally dropping the game 29-31.
Both teams traded points to start the third game before the Aggies took the lead at 6-5 and would not trail the remainder of the game. BYU tied the game at 13-13 on two dumps and a block by setter Karina Puikkonen but the Aggies rallied, outscoring the Cougars 17-10 the remainder of the game for the 30-23 win.
The fourth game looked like a Utah State victory early as the Aggies took control 15-10. Once again, though, BYU responded. The Cougars scored five straight to tie the game and took the lead at 18-17. The teams traded the next couple of points before BYU took the lead for good on a kill by Bundy.
The Cougars went on to win the fourth game 30-27 to set up the decisive fifth game, played to 15.
The fifth game was typical of the entire match with both teams fighting for every point. Neither team was able to score more than two straight points as the game stayed tight until the end.
Trailing 10-11, the Aggies scored two straight off a tip by setter Chelsi Neves and a Hailey MacKay kill. BYU tied the game, but the Aggies were able to force game point at 14-13. BYU tied once again, but a dump by Neves put the Aggies up 15-14 and set up Cartwright’s block.
“We kept fighting,” defensive specialist Heather Olmstead said. “I felt we were in control the whole match. Even when we lost the second game by two points I still felt we won that game because we had the mental part of it.”
Statistically the game could not have been much closer. The Aggies hit .181 with 77 kills while BYU hit .182 with 76 kills. The Aggies outblocked BYU 16-15, but BYU had more assists, 68-72 and led in digs 74-83.
One important difference was serves though. USU recorded four service aces with eight errors while BYU only had one ace and 10 errors.
“You look at how close on the stats, how close [the game was] so every point opportunity was big,” Fuller said. “[Serving tough] was something that we wanted to do and maybe put some pressure on them in certain areas, not necessarily go for the aces.”
In the match, the Aggies were led by middle blocker Michelle Matheson who recorded 20 kills on .447 hitting. She also had nine blocks, including three solo, which set a new career high. Matheson’s 20 kills tied her career high.
The Aggies also had four other players in double digits in kills. Shauni Fluckiger had 10, Lisa Borom had 15, MacKay had 13 and Cartwright finished with 11. Cartwright also had 7 blocks, including the solo block that won the match.
BYU nearly matched the Aggies in kills with four players recording double figures, Nina Puikkonen (22), Sunny Mahe (16), Lauren Richards (13) and Bundy (12).
Playing at Utah as opposed to traveling to play, the Aggies had the boost of fan support during the match.
“We were so happy all those people came from Logan,” Olmstead said. “We saw friends, family that made the trip through the bad snow. Just people cheering for you when you do a good job or when you do a bad job, it just makes you keep going.”
She said, “Our fan support was awesome and we hope that they can come back tomorrow.”
Friday the Aggies will continue tournament play against Utah. The Utes beat Texas Tech 3-0 Thursday evening.
The match will at begin at 7 p.m. on Crimson Court.
“We’re just pretty excited about the opportunities to go on and the fact we were able to play well and compete,” Fuller said. “To get this match in the NCAAs was pretty special.”