Spikers win four in a row
The Utah State volleyball team started it’s season off with a bang, winning the Hurricane Invitational hosted by Tulsa University this past weekend.
The Aggies’ 4-0 start for the season is only the second time in 26 years that the Ags have started with that many wins.
“It’s really nice to get four wins,” head coach Burt Fuller said. “I think the team came together well. It gave us an opportunity to see things we need to continue to improve on. It’s always nice to be able to see that in a win.”
Fuller said going into the tournament the team felt it had a pretty good chance to pick up at least three matches – if not win the tournament.
In the final game of the tournament, senior Zuzana Cernianska led the Aggies to a four-game win over Tulsa. Cernianska led the way with 27 kills.
Sophomore Beth Hodge was also a force for the Aggies with a career-high 26 kills against Texas Pan American earlier in the tournament.
“We got out there and we were able to make some plays,” Fuller said. “I really saw some great things from some players that I hadn’t seen for a while. Having Hodge back in the lineup was great.”
Hodge redshirted last season due to injury.
Fuller said last season the Aggies struggled with injuries.
“Last season it seemed like every time we felt we were on top of things, something would change. We would lose somebody and everything would have to change,” he said. ” [This season] we have a lot of experience out on the floor. It was fun to watch them play. And everybody likes to win.”
Fuller also said it is nice to look down the bench and see all the experience there.
He added that senior Ingrid Roth and Hodge have become the team’s vocal leaders. Cernianska has also become a leader on the court with the way she plays, he said.
“That’s just really nice to see,” he said. “That we’ve got those kids out there that we can count on. The team just feels like we have a full group here and we’ve got a lot of support.”
The Aggies will stay on the road for one more week, traveling to Arkansas to play in the C&C Services Invitational.
Fuller said he expects the competition to get a lot tougher as the Aggies stay on the road. But he said he is also looking forward to coming back to Logan to play the University of Utah Sept. 2.
“We’re looking forward to people coming and watching us play at the first home match,” he said. “That’s going to be exciting.”
-aedmunds@cc.usu.edu