Volleyball drops two games in conference
The Utah State volleyball team lost to two of the top teams in the Mountain West last week, falling 3-1 to Wyoming and 3-0 to Colorado State.
The losses dropped Utah State to 1-9 in conference and 5-19 overall.
“I’ve got to have us better prepared and I’ve got to have us more mentally tough,” said head coach Grayson DuBose.
Wyoming and CSU came into the week with two of the best defenses in the nation. The Cowgirls were ranked ninth in the NCAA and top in the conference with 2.97 blocks per set; the Rams were 19th and second respectively with 2.80.
The Aggies felt the full force of the two defenses, giving up 14 blocks to Wyoming and 12 to CSU.
“They started trapping us and we set into that trap a little bit,” said sophomore middle blocker Hannah Smith. “We got kind of out of system.”
As has been an unfortunate recurring theme for the Aggies this season, USU started each match well, but faded down the stretch.
“We talk about being on-task, doing your job as a passer, your job as a setter, your job as a hitter and just worrying about the few things that we need you to do,” said junior outside hitter Kaylie Kamalu. “We let that get away from us just a few times.”
Against Wyoming, USU won the first set 25-16 and took an 18-16 lead in the second set, forcing a Wyoming turnover. The Aggies were outscored 9-3 the rest of the set, including a 4-0 run by the visitors to claim the victory.
“We fell apart like a little cheap suit,” DuBose said. “We’ve got to be better over a period of time. It can’t just be for 25 minutes or one game. It’s got to be a longer period of time.”
The vaunted Wyoming block came alive in the third set. USU was blocked six times and was held to a .028 hitting percentage. The Cowgirls hit .281 with 15 kills in the set and followed it up with 17 kills and a .571 attacking percentage in the final frame.
“We need to do the right things for a long period of time,” Smith said. “It got tense and we needed to calm down and focus on what we did in the first game.”
The Aggies showed flashes of potential in each game, holding Wyoming to only nine kills and a .048 attacking percentage in the first set and scoring 12 kills on 41 attempts for a .195 hitting percentage in the second set against CSU.
“In my mind I think that’s who we should be every time we step on the floor,” DuBose said.
“We see our potential,” Kamalu said.
Now with eight games left in the season, the team is struggling with a lack of confidence, DuBose said.
“You kind of forget how to win maybe,” DuBose said. “We’ve got to get the ship righted here the last little while.”
The Aggies will play three road matches against UNLV, Fresno State and San Jose State over the next two weeks before returning home to play Nevada on Nov. 12.
— thomas.sorenson@aggiemail.usu.edu
— @tomcat340