USU volleyball starts conference play 1-1
Utah State volleyball began its conference schedule 1-1 following a four-set loss to No. 7 Colorado State Thursday and a victory over Wyoming in five sets Saturday night. Senior middle blocker Kaitlyn VanHoff took sole possession of the school record for career blocks after notching eight blocks against the visiting Cowgirls, passing Denae Mohlman’s (1997-2000) 477 career blocks.
“It’s exciting,” VanHoff said, “it’s an honor to be able to go out with that. I think it just comes down to our whole team really working hard and working together. It’s about being able to play for each other and trust each other.”
VanHoff’s eight blocks and 12 kills helped the Aggies to their sixth straight win over Wyoming.
“I’m happy for Kaitlyn for achieving this milestone,” said head coach Grayson DuBose. “She has progressed and developed into a very nice blocker through a lot of hard work and effort, and it is extremely exciting for her to get the record. She’s been fortunate to have lots of good people around her to help her along the way. Any individual accomplishment is a positive reflection on our program and we’re very happy for Kaitlyn. I’m very glad she became and Aggie four years ago.”
USU had things rolling early against the Cowgirls, taking the first two sets in decisive fashion. Wyoming responded after the break, winning two straight sets of their own and pressuring the Aggies into a fifth set.
“There was a lot of stuff going on,” DuBose said. “We steadied out. The first two sets were nice and steady with a little bit of a fight back. Then they changed their lineup and I didn’t think we responded particularly well. It caught us a little bit off-guard and we got a little frantic. In the fifth set we settled down. I think we had six blocks and we got them really uncomfortable. It was a roller coaster of emotions for sure.”
VanHoff and sophomore Kaylie Kamalu each totaled 12 kills in the match, with Elle Brainard adding 10 blocks and 11 kills of her own.
Utah state is now 2-2 in fifth-set matches this season.
“It felt nice to win the fifth set,” VanHoff said. “When it gets down to the wire like that, it just comes down to being disciplined. It’s going back to the basics and doing what we know how to do. We came out with a lot of passion in that fifth set, especially to finish it. I think that’s big for us, because sometimes we struggle finishing games. It was nice to be able to finish it out.”
The win came two days after falling to the five-time defending Mountain West champion Colorado State Rams in the Aggies’ conference opener.
“It was nice to see us come out and compete,” DuBose said. “I thought we really did a nice job following our defensive plan, our blocking was really solid. We got a lot of balls and turned them into points, so that was a big deal for us.”
Utah State is the first unranked team to take a set against the Rams, who are now 14-1.
The Aggies play their first pair of conference road games of the season this week, first traveling to New Mexico on Thursday, Oct. 2 at 6:30 p.m. and then to Air Force in Colorado Springs on Saturday, Oct. 4 at 6 p.m.