USU downs Texas State, keeps Pac-12 Tournament hopes alive

The Utah State Women’s Volleyball team defeated Texas State 3-2 on Wednesday night in the Wayne Estes Center. Texas State, a team that USU lost to in September, came out strong, winning the first two sets 25-23.  

Utah State regrouped and came back to win the last three sets (25-13, 25-12, 15-10), pulling off a reverse sweep and giving them the momentum they were looking for.  

The victory pushed them into a tie with Washington State for fifth place, with both teams carrying a 4-7 record in the Pac-12. 

The win sets them up for completing a hat trick on Friday and their first three-game win streak of the season as they face Oregon State.  

As the postseason approaches, the Aggies have 5 games to jump into fourth place, with the top four teams advancing to the Pac-12 Championship.  

With only five games remaining, the team felt the urgency on Wednesday. 

Keith Smith, USU’s women’s volleyball head coach, shifted his players’ perspective.  

“I think a little bit less of thinking from our perspective of we can’t afford to, and we’re going to win,” Smith said. “Like we don’t have a choice, so we’re going to.”  

Smith said that the confidence level shifted after sets three and four.  

“It’s like we’re going to win,” Smith said. “So let’s go figure out what it’s going to take.” 

Smith explained the growth that has been seen from the beginning of the conference to now in the team’s serves.  

“[Sets] three, four, and five, we just kind of served them off the court,” Smith said.  

Sadie Warren and Ava Napierski were two players that Smith said had major roles in the overall service of the game.  

“Napierski at the end there just hit really good serve after really good serve,” Smith said. “Sadie, I thought, in sets three, four, and five, did a really good job responding to not her best first set in particular.”  

Smith explained the discrepancies in the team’s offense on Wednesday and how they compensated for it.  

“The last couple matches we’ve been really, really balanced,” Smith said. “We didn’t quite have that today, but our outside stepped up and got us 40 kills and kind of made up for it, which is what high-level teams do.” 

Another important name that rose to the occasion Wednesday night was Silina Damuni, with 50 assists, 15 digs, and 3 kills on the night.  

“I think there’s no doubt she’s the best defensive setter in the league, and probably the best defensive setter I’ve ever been fortunate enough to coach,” Smith said.  

Olivia Ruy, an outside hitter and a major contributor to the win Wednesday night, had 21 kills and 6 total blocks, collecting 24 points for the team.  

Ruy said that going into the third set, the team focused on aggressive offense and keeping their cool.  

“If we make an error being aggressive, fine, but we’re going to clean up the unforced errors as much as possible,” Ruy said. “I think that we did a good job of playing like us more so than we have in the past, and that’s starting to show.”

Ruy said that going into the game on Friday against Oregon State, and looking ahead to the rest of the season, the team wants to carry this momentum with them.  

“We talked a lot about positive momentum and stacking wins, and I think that’s something we can do,” Ruy said.  

When asked about the mindset going into the Oregon State match on Friday, Smith continued with the winning perspective.  

“We’re just going to go try to play our best and walk away with a win every single night that we play, and go from there,” Smith said. 

Utah State will take on Oregon State on Friday, Nov. 6 at 7 pm at the Wayne Estes Center.