Volleyball coach nets 100 wins as an Aggie
The Utah State volleyball team made history at the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum as they won a five-set thriller over Seattle to give head coach Grayson DuBose his 100th career victory as an Aggie.
“One hundred wins is exciting, it’s fun,” DuBose said. “It’s because of these guys here. I’ve had wonderful assistants and wonderful players to be a part of. It’s kind of a nice thing. We always say the awards we get are team awards, and I don’t feel any different about this.”
Sophomore setter Paige Neves also made her mark on history, moving into 10th-place all-time in assists.
The Aggies held on for a 25-23 first set win despite giving up an 8-0 lead. The Redhawks chipped away at the deficit and got within one at 21-20, and again at 24-23, but didn’t have enough left.
Senior outside hitter Shay Sorensen had five kills to lead all players in the set, and recorded four digs as well.
“It was a grind,” Sorensen said. Seattle is “a team that keeps after it. We pulled together and focused one ball at a time and came together as a team. Grayson got his 100th win, and I am so happy to be a part of it. It shows all the hard work and dedication he’s given to USU volleyball,” she added.
Sorensen finished with a team-high 13 kills and 14 digs while fellow-senior Josselyn White overcame illness to add 10 kills and 12 digs.
Seattle’s Kaytlyn Dill took over for the Redhawks in the second set, recording 10 kills in the set. But Dill’s performance wasn’t enough as errors plagued Seattle, allowing the Aggies to overcome an early deficit for a 27-25 set win.
“She can really hit the ball,” sophomore outside hitter Rachel Orr said. “Towards the end they shut her down. We had some really good blocks on her and that’s when it counts.”
In a back-and-forth battle, neither team led by more than three throughout the third set. Errors continued to hurt the Jayhawks, but the Aggies were unable to seal the deal. Dill had six kills to help Seattle pull out a 25-23 set win.
Dill continued her solid play in the fourth, and the Redhawks out-dueled the Aggies for a 25-20 victory to force the decisive fifth set.
Neither team budged in the fifth, trading point for point from 12-12 to 17-17. Orr and fellow sophomore Kaitlyn VanHoff came up big down the stretch as the Aggies fought off two match points. The duo combined for eight kills in the final volleys before Sorensen served up the ace for the win.
“Towards the end our passing was really well, it was right on,” Orr said. “Paige (Neves) always does really good so that helps. Then there’s people talking to me and telling me where to hit. I think we did well, and me personally I think I did as well.”
Five USU players finished the night with at least 11 digs, led by sophomore libero Ashlan Rogers with 24. Freshman McKell Staheli added 11, and sophomore setter Paige Neves added 12. Neves made her own mark on the USU record books with 51 assists, moving her into 10th place all-time.
The Aggies improved to 3-0 in WAC play, and 8-4 overall. Seattle fell to 1-3 in the WAC and 6-7 overall.
Utah State will be back at the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum to face Idaho on Saturday, Sept. 22 at 7 p.m.
“I have a lot of respect for (Idaho’s) coaching staff,” DuBose said. “They do a good job. We’ve always had battles, most of the time we go five games with them. I don’t expect anything different Saturday. It’d be great if a bunch of people turned out and heckled them a little bit.”
–curtis.lundstrom@aggiemail.usu.edu
Twitter: @curtislundstrom