Utah State spikers pick up two wins in California
A late rally secured one victory and led to another.
After falling behind 2-1 Friday, the Utah State women’s volleyball team won the final two games to defeat Cal State Fullerton on the road.
Fullerton (4-24, 0-15) picked up the first game, 34-32 before USU (12-13, 6-8) rallied to take the second 30-21. The Titans flipped the score in the third, winning 30-21.
With their backs against the wall, the Aggies won game four 30-23 to set up the decisive fifth game.
In the fifth, Fullerton had the chance to put the Aggies away, going up 13-10, but Utah State made a final charge, scoring six of the last seven points for a 16-14 victory.
“It was not our best game, but we were able to pull it out at the end and that’s what’s important,” said Aggie Head Coach Burt Fuller in a phone interview.
Utah State was led by outside hitter Zuzana Cernianska, who notched a career-high 26 kills, and middle blocker Erin Cartwright who also had a career-high 26 kills. Middle blocker Rickie Rigby continued her solid play with a career-high 10 kills.
As a team, the Aggies hit .212 in the match.
“We didn’t hit particularly well,” Fuller said. “We had a number of unforced hitting errors, but we were able to get the job done at the end. We were down a couple of match points at the end and our team was able to come up with some big plays.”
Defensively, libero Taubi Neves led USU with a career-high 22 digs while Cernianska added a career-high 15.
Off the victory over Fullerton, the Aggies used their momentum to roll over the University of California Riverside (6-19, 2-13) Saturday.
“We went out a little at ease and played well from the get-go and put some pressure on them,” Fuller said.
In the first game, Utah State took control of the match with a 30-25 victory before jumping all over the Highlanders, 30-19, in the second game. The third game was closer but the Aggies finished off UCR, 30-27, for the sweep.
Once again Cartwright led the way, picking up a double-double with 20 kills and 10 digs while hitting .567. Cernianska was also successful, recording 14 kills, while Rigby matched her career-high set the previous night of 10 kills.
Fuller said much of the Aggie success came from improved outside hitting – something Utah State has been working on.
“Our outside hitters’ hitting numbers were tremendous,” he said.
Tereza Cernianska led the way on the outside for the Aggies, putting away 16 kills while hitting .394.
After losing three straight matches, the Aggies have been looking to improve, Fuller said, and these two matches were important wins for the team.
“We need these wins to feel good about where we are in the season and where we are as a group,” he said.
Fuller said the team’s goal is to finish .500 for the season.
“We’re pushing for that and it would make us feel pretty good,” he said.
-slbk5@cc.usu.edu