USU volleyball battles back to earn its first win
The Utah State Women’s Volleyball team achieved its first victory of the season against the San Jose Spartans on Thursday night, breaking a fourteen-game losing streak; the Aggies did this in remarkable fashion coming back from a two-set deficit to win out in the final three sets.
The first and second sets were won by the Spartans, but were taken by a thin margin of just two points in both, the first set 25-23 and the second set 28-26. Things looked bleak, despite the close scoring, the Aggies were down two sets to zero and every point would be critical. The Aggies came to play. Utah State took the third set 25-21. The fourth set was also close affair. The Aggies were able to just get by the Spartans, winning the set by a razor-thin two points, 26-24. The third set was also close, but the Aggies came up clutch winning 15-13.
Play at the net had a large impact on the Aggies’ victory. The team recorded a total of 22 blocks and 40 block assists. The 40 block assists set the program record, breaking the 1987 mark of 39. This was a team effort, with two players recording double-digit blocks and block assists. Middle blocker Autumn Spafford recorded 10 and Middle Corinne Larsen with 10 as well. Opposite side hitter Izzie Belnap had seven on the night. Outside hitter Whitney Solosabal recorded five.
While the Aggies do deserve the majority of the credit for the win, the Spartans do deserve a large amount of blame. San Jose State played an error-strewn game amassing 56 total attack errors. This means the Spartans committed an error on 24 percent of the game’s possessions.
If you missed the win last night, or just want to experience it again, here's your chance! #AggiesAllTheWay pic.twitter.com/kLS0msGfHw
— USU Volleyball (@USUVolleyball) October 4, 2019
This season has been rough for USU volleyball. There’s no sense in sugar-coating it. However, this victory showed that the Aggies are a better group than their record would suggest. They were able to come together and rally against the odds to overcome a 2-0 set deficit. Hopefully, Utah State will be able to use the momentum from this win and take its fair share of victories over the remainder of the season. Saturday will be its next opportunity as the Aggies will host Nevada at noon.