#1.2752424

Utah State volleyball beats Portland in season opener

Curtis Lundstrom, sports senior writer

The Utah State volleyball team started its season off on the right foot Friday, picking up a straight sets victory over the University of Portland in the first game of the 2012 Utah State Invitational.

“Wins are valuable,” said Utah State head coach Grayson DuBose. “We like them, and we want to have a lot of them. It’s nice to get that first one under our belt. We had some new (players) that hadn’t played much so it was fun to get them some experience.”

Senior outside hitter Josselyn White recorded a game-high 14 kills and the Aggies capitalized on errors and miscommunications by the Pilots to jump out to a two-games-to-none advantage.

Portland fought back in the third set as Utah State struggled to maintain ball control, but while trailing 17-18 in the third set, USU ripped off an 8-1 run – including White serving five straight points – to close out the match and earn the win.

The Aggies will face the University of Utah in their second game of the Utah State Invitational sponsored by Gossner Foods on Friday at 7 p.m. in the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum.
 

– curtis.lundstrom@aggiemail.usu.edu

@CurtisLundstrom