Straight sets
A highly-anticipated battle between in-state rivals was short lived Tuesday night, as the Utah State women’s volleyball team lost to Brigham Young University, 3-0, at the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum. The Aggies fell in three straight sets, by scores of 22-25, 21-25, and 19-25.
“They were better at the end of games,” USU head coach Grayson DuBose said. “When we get to 19-all, they were just better than we were at the end. That’s disappointing. We had chances to get better and just didn’t take advantage of them.”
The Aggies were led by junior opposite side hitter Shay Sorensen, who had a team-high 11 kills and a .231 hitting percentage.
The Cougars were led by 6-foot-6 Jennifer Hamson, who’s height and length was a definite factor in beating the Aggies’ tenacious defense. Sorensen said Hamson gave the Aggies a hard time.
“She’s tall,” the 6-foot-1 Utah native said. “I thought our defense set up well against her. We got her a few times.”
The Aggies offense seemed out of sync at times, dropping several key points during critical stretches.
Senior outside hitter Liz McArthur had a quiet night for the Aggies, recording a season-low eight kills.
“We have to keep emphasizing transitioning,” the all-America selection said. “I didn’t think we transitioned very hard. We’d dig a ball, and our hitters weren’t quite ready to take a big-time swing at it; and against that team you have to take a big-time swing to get kills.”
With the loss, the Aggies fell to 4-7 on the season, and 16-41 against rival BYU. The Aggies came into the match leading the WAC in blocking and digging, showing that they are a force to be reckoned with on defense. The defense kept USU competitive in each set, but the Aggies weren’t able to get over the final hump and close out games.
“We just weren’t good at the end, when we needed to be good,” McArthur said. “I thought we played hard, and I thought we dug some balls, but when we needed to be good at receiving we weren’t, and when we needed to be good in transition we weren’t.”
The Aggies came up with several big blocks in the match and got back to back service aces from sophomore outside hitter Tumua Etiman. The aces came during a critical series of points during the second set, in which the Aggies found themselves down four, but were able to scratch their way back into the game.
Sorensen said she loved the support the Aggies had for the rivalry game.
“We had a great crowd out there tonight,” Sorensen said. “We love to play those guys, it’s always a fun match. The crowd was awesome. I love when they just cheer and cheer for us, and heckle the other side. They’re lots of fun.”
Coach Debose echoed Sorensen’s praise for the crowd.
“It’s a great crowd,” he said. “I appreciate those guys coming out and supporting us, and being loud and kind of heckling a little bit; it’s a great environment. Volleyball kind of lends itself to that stuff so it’s kind of fun.”
The Aggies will be on the road this weekend, in California, to take on old West Coast Conference foes UC-Irvine and Cal State Fullerton, Friday and Saturday. USU then returns home to the Spectrum, Sept. 22 and 24, to host San Jose State and the No. 9 Rainbow Wahine of Hawaii.
–curtis.lundstrom@aggiemail.usu.edu