USU Volleyball loses to San Antonio
Looking to stay atop the conference standings, the Utah State women’s volleyball team saw its 6-game conference winning streak snapped by the red-hot Roadrunners of the University of Texas-San Antonio in straight sets Monday.
“We were just ill prepared and that’s my fault,” said USU head coach Grayson DuBose. “I didn’t have us ready to play at our best tonight for some reason. It was just bad.”
Both setters were involved early as USU’s Paige Neves and UTSA’s Brandy Huskey traded dumps at the net, but it was the Roadrunners finishing with a .368 hitting percentage in the first set.
The Aggies were plagued by miscommunication and errors throughout, committing four attack errors and two service errors, while the Roadrunners capitalized on the USU mistakes to put away several long rallies and seize momentum.
Aggies climbed within one at 19-18 behind five kills from senior outside hitter Shay Sorensen, but the Aggies fell 25-20 in the first.
“That was a bummer,” Sorensen said. “They sided out really well and we didn’t. They put some runs together and we couldn’t answer that. It was kind of a weird feeling. That shouldn’t happen ever. We’ve played together for a long time. We just seemed frantic out there.”
Boos filled the Spectrum during the second set after the Roadrunners appeared to hit a ball into the net and the antenna. Officials awarded Utah State a point, but after protest from the UTSA bench, officials gathered and overturned the call, giving the Roadrunners a 24-20 lead in the second set, which ended a point later, 25-20.
The Aggies hit .116 during the second set and UTSA came up with 22 digs, turning them into 17 kills. McKenzie Adams recorded 12 kills through the first two sets, hitting .417 and committing just one error to lead the Roadrunners.
“We’re a nice blocking team and we didn’t show it tonight,” DuBose said. “We were just out of rhythm tonight. Adams is good, she’s a nice player. She’s a preseason all-conference pick, and she’s a really nice volleyball player. She had a nice match against us last time too.”
The hitting woes continued throughout the third set as the Roadrunners raced to 9-4 lead. After USU fought back to a 13-12 advantage midway through, the Aggies struggled to keep their momentum and ultimately fell 25-21 for the sweep.
Utah State fell to 12-7 overall and 7-2 in WAC play, while the Roadrunners improved to 13-6 overall and 6-3 in the WAC.
The Aggies will hit the road for a two-game swing at Idaho and Seattle on Oct 18 and 20. Both Matches are scheduled for 8 p.m.
“We’re going to Idaho next, so it ought to be a real challenge for us,” DuBose said. “We have to make sure we’re well prepared as we travel out to Idaho.”
– curtis.lundstrom@aggiemail.usu.edu
Twitter: @curtislundstrom