USU can’t keep up against NMSU
After 21 tie scores in the match, the Utah State volleyball team was defeated by New Mexico State Saturday night at the Spectrum.
Lindsey Yon led New Mexico State with 20 kills as the Southern Aggies won in three sets.
With USU up 16-13 in the third set, New Mexico State went on an 8-2 run to close out the match, winning 25-22.
In the first set, the Aggies were able to keep the score close, but NMSU, down 15-14, went on a five-point run to pull away for good. Senior outside hitter Melissa Osterloh led USU with four kills in the set as USU lost 25-19.
The score was close through most of the second set, but key Aggie errors at the end of the game let New Mexico State pull ahead, finishing the set 25-21. Yon had eight kills in the set. Sophomore middle blocker Katie Astle had three kills while hitting .400 in the set for the Aggies.
Osterloh said the team expected Yon to come out having a good night, so their goal was to get some blocks off her.
“We didn’t get as many as we’d hoped, but we did kind of get her to make some mistakes,” she said. “So that was good.”
The Aggies were led in the match by Osterloh, who had 10 kills, while senior defensive-specialist/setter Heather Hillier had 10 digs.
Osterloh said the Aggies will take what they can from the match and learn from it.
“We worked on a lot of things tonight,” she said. “And we’re getting better.”
The Aggies are now 3-2 in WAC play this season, while NMSU improves to 5-2.
Head coach Grayson DuBose said New Mexico State is a big physical team, so USU has to pass the ball better against them to have a chance.
“Physically, we don’t match up,” he said. “We have to do things a little better.”
DuBose said the Aggies had chances at the beginning, but then weren’t sharp enough at the end of the games.
“Our ball control was just a little bit off,” he said. “I like when we’re in system, but when we’re not, it’s a challenge for us.”
Osterloh echoed DuBose, saying the team struggled when little things started to break down later in the match.
“We fought with them and our passing was really good at the beginnings,” she said. “But as we got later in the match, our blocking broke down a little bit.”
Despite the loss, DuBose said the team was able to do some good things. He said the team was able to control Amber Simpson, a senior from New Mexico State who had seven kills in the match. He said the team will take some positives out of the match and continue to build on them.
“Their experience is a little bit better than ours and they’re a little more physical than we are, so we just need to come back and keep working on our ball control,” said DuBose.
The Aggies finished the match hitting .082, while New Mexico State had a .220 overall hitting percentage. New Mexico State also had the advantage in digs (51-35) and kills (45-30), while USU had four fewer service errors (7-3). NMSU has now won the last five matches between the two teams.
After four straight home games, Utah State will continue conference play Thursday night at Idaho.