USU takes second in home VB tourney
Kicking off the 2012-2013 season, the Utah State volleyball team hosted the annual Utah State Invitational sponsored by Gossner Foods, bringing home a second place trophy after finishing 3-1.
“Wins are valuable,” said Utah State head coach Grayson DuBose. “We like them, and we want to have a lot of them. It’s nice to get that first one under our belt. We had some new (players) that hadn’t played much so it was fun to get them some experience.”
Utah State 3, Portland 0
The Aggies started the tournament off on the right foot Friday, picking up a straight sets victory over the University of Portland.
Senior outside hitter Josselyn White recorded a game-high 14 kills and the Aggies capitalized on errors and miscommunications by the Pilots to jump out to a two-games-to-none advantage.
Portland fought back in the third set as Utah State struggled to maintain ball control, but while trailing 17-18 in the third set, USU ripped off an 8-1 run – including White serving five straight points – to close out the match and earn the win.
Utah 3, Utah State 2
Aggie senior outside hitter Shay Sorenson recorded a team high 11 kills, but the Utah State volleyball team dropped a five-set heartbreaker to in-state rival Utah Friday, 25-21,10-25, 17-25, 25-23 and 14-16.
After winning the opening set, the Aggies struggled against a sizeable Utah squad and the Utes took control with a 2-1 advantage. Utah State rallied from a 19-10 deficit in the fourth set to force a decisive fifth set but the late rally ultimately came up short as USU fell 16-14 to drop to 1-1 on the season.
Utah State 3, SUU 1
The Aggies picked up a win over another in-state rival, beating Southern Utah in four sets Saturday in the Utah State Invitational.
The Aggies overcame a first set meltdown in which they led 20-14, only to see the Thunderbirds finish on a 12-4 run to take the first set – their first of the season – 26-24.
Ana Mailoto finished with 11 kills for SUU, which nearly overcame a five-point deficit in the second set before coming up short at 25-23.
Led by a game-high 15 kills from White, the Aggie offense found a groove and took control over the final two sets to win three straight – including a 25-14 shellacking in the fourth.
Utah State 3, Weber State 0
The Aggies emerged victorious in the final match of the tournament with a win over in-state rival Weber State in straight sets Saturday.
White had a match-high 11 kills to lead the Aggies, and the Wildcats were unable to overcome a strong defensive showing from the USU blockers. Utah State finished with 10.5 team blocks and held Weber State to a -.192 hitting percentage.
Seniors Elle Brainard and White, as well as sophomore Ashlan Rogers, were named to the all-tournament team.
– curtis.lundstrom@aggiemail.usu.edu
THE UTAH STATE VOLLEYBALL TEAM celebrate after scoring against the University of Utah on Friday, August 24. The Aggies forced the match into five sets after getting down 2-1, but the powerful Ute attack proved too much to handle. Utah went on to win the tournament with a 4-0 record. CURTIS RIPPLINGER photo