Utah State spikers split trip to California
After missing two matches because of a hurt elbow, Utah State opposite side hitter Zuzana Cernianska was back to her normal form Saturday as she recorded 19 kills and 12 digs en route to a 3-0 sweep (32-30, 30-27, 30-24) over Cal Poly in San Luis Obispo.
It was the first Aggie victory since the spikers defeated Idaho 3-0 on Sept. 26 in the Spectrum.
The Aggies fell in five games (39-37, 30-21, 32-30, 30-24, 15-10) to No. 19 UC Santa Barbara on Friday.
USU is now 10-8 overall and 2-5 in Big West Conference play this season.
Utah State hit .244 in the first game and held the Mustangs to .191 hitting percentage. In the second game the Aggies hit .310 and continued to hold Cal Poly to .152 hitting percentage.
Middle blockers Erin Cartwright had 11 kills, seven digs and five blocks, and Ingrid Roth added eight kills with a match-high .389.
Cartwright said the team felt good going into the match.
“We’ve always had pretty high confidence,” she said. “We’re not going to let [a losing streak] get us down. Our confidence is up there. … I think Irvine and Long Beach are probably going to be our biggest competition this season in Big West.”
Cal Poly was led by Vanessa Gilliam with 12 kills and a .348 hitting percentage.
The contest against UC Santa Barbara was a little more evenly matched.
The Aggies opened the first game with a 29-26 advantage before the Guachos came back to record four straight points and an eventual 39-37 victory.
Cernianska recorded a match-high 26 kills with 10 digs against UCSB. Cartwright added 25 kills, 10 digs and six blocks.
Setter Andrea Delsigne hit .462 and added eight digs, three block assists and 68 assists. Delsigne is among the best in the country at what she does. As of Sept. 29 she was ranked fourth in the country in assists per game (14.11).
But no matter how well Delsigne may be playing individually, prior to the match against Cal Poly the Aggies were struggling as a whole.
Head Coach Burt Fuller has been taken back a little because of the Aggies’ recent rough patch in the last few matches – especially in the second game against UC Irvine last Saturday at home. USU fell in three games to the Anteaters.
He knew just what to do, though.
Fuller brought in Dominique Arsenault in Delsigne’s place for the remainder of the match.
It wasn’t so much Delsigne bringing the team down, Fuller said, but the team needed someone else on the court to give it a different look.
“Dominique sets a different tempo game,” Fuller said. “She did a nice job. We brought in a relief pitcher and she was successful for us. She has been with us all year and has been working real hard. It was nice to see her get out there and earn some good time.”
Said Aggie middle blocker Erin Cartwright, “She gave us a lot of fire. She was getting excited and jumping up and down. She communicated well and brought us together. That was the biggest thing she did.”
Although Delsigne has definitely done her time to earn the starting position, Arsenault may see playing time again in the future.
-juag@cc.usu.edu