#1.616860

Spikers drop to 0-4 on the year

By Joe Wangemann, Sports senior writer

The Utah State women’s volleyball team dropped to 0-4 on the season with a four-game loss to Weber State Tuesday night in the Spectrum.

 

The Aggies came out strong, winning the first set 25-23, but then lost momentum in the second as the Wildcats led the entire game, losing 25-16. After three tie scores and one lead change in Game 3, the Wildcats prevailed 25-21.

 

The match ended as Weber State won the fourth set, 25-23.

 

“We didn’t pass at a high enough level to execute our offense,” said USU head coach Grayson DuBose. “It’s a faster tempo offense, so the precision of our passing is critical to that. We’re a better serving and passing team than we showed tonight.”

 

Wildcat Micah Folsom had 15 kills and 11 digs, helping her team snap a nine-game losing streak to Utah State. Teammate Brittney Bisaillon had 13 kills and hit .400 in the match.

 

Junior outside hitter Jessalyn Payne had 11 kills and hit .226 for the Aggies. Senior hitter Melissa Osterloh led the team with 13 kills, while sophomore Katie Astle had eight kills and hit .368.

 

Although USU was able to keep the score close in the third and fourth sets, passing trouble and errors kept them behind.

 

The Aggies had nine service errors and 26 attack errors in the match, compared to seven service errors and 19 attack errors for the Wildcats.

 

Astle, who had a career-high eight kills, said although losing is never good, the team has a lot to learn from this match.

 

“I think we had a lot of errors we don’t usually make in practice,” she said. “We were too tentative. We weren’t playing as aggressively as we normally would.”

 

Payne said the Aggies beat themselves. She said they weren’t playing their game, but letting the Wildcats play and seeing what happened.

 

“We made a lot of mistakes at bad times,” Payne said. “I think we’re getting in our own heads a little bit. We need to work on our mental game right now.”

 

DuBose said the team needs to work on ball control, serving the ball inbounds and passing well enough to run what they want to run offensively.

 

He said the team cannot afford to make mistakes at critical points in the game.

 

“It’s hard to claw your way back,” he said. “We have to start off faster. We have to be a better team earlier in the match instead of waiting till the end and trying to battle back.”

 

—joseph.w@aggiemail.usu.edu