USU Volleyball takes down No. 12 UCLA, Cal Poly

LOGAN — Utah State Volleyball (2-0) knocked off No. 12 UCLA (0-1) and Cal Poly (0-1) to open their season on Friday. The Aggies won both games 3-1. USU’s win over UCLA is the Aggies’ first win over a nationally ranked opponent since defeating No. 3 Hawaii in 2010. 

“I’m so proud of our group,” head coach Rob Neilson said about the win over the Bruins in a press release. “For them to come out and just battle, work so hard and play together, that was just inspiring to watch them pull that match out. It was awesome.”

The Aggies and Bruins went back and forth through four sets, tying 40 times and tallying 20 lead changes. 

USU was fueled by an electric environment in the Wayne Estes Center. 

“It was amazing,” outside hitter Tatum Stall said in a press release. “The vibe in Club Estes — there’s no other feeling like it. We were just feeding off the energy and feeding off each other. Everyone was just balling out. Our team is amazing. Everything we’ve done in fall camp has just really paid off.”

Stockton Jewkes, a USU broadcaster, called the team “really resilient” and characterized the game by this save from Stall in the second set. 

Out here puttin' in WORK! What a way to tie it up! 😱 pic.twitter.com/UZyfe8EzUl

— USU Volleyball (@USUVolleyball) August 27, 2022

The Aggies finished the match with 57 kills, 14 blocks, 56 assists and 54 digs. Opposite side hitter Kylee Stokes led Utah State with 14 kills and middle blocker Kennedi Boyd led the team in blocks with eight.

Earlier the same day USU beat Cal Poly in a tightly-contested game in four sets with the Aggies needing 27 points to win two of them. In that match, Stokes led the Aggies with 15 kills while middle blocker Inka Mehtola led the squad with five blocks. 

Utah State is back in action on Thursday when they travel to Provo to take on No. 10 BYU.

Featured image from 2021 game against Nevada.