Volleyball falls on the road while Morrill takes place in record books
Nevada senior outside hitter Kylie Harrington recorded 20 kills as the Wolf Pack defeated the Utah State Aggies on Friday in four sets (26-24, 22-25, 25-19, 25-16). The Aggies (14-5, 2-4 WAC) dropped their second straight match on the road and fell to 1-3 in Western Athletic Conference road play with the loss. The Wolf Pack (10-9, 4-2 WAC) received strong performances from senior middle blocker Lindsay Baldwin and sophomore Janelle Batista, who pounded 16 and 11 kills, respectively.
“I thought we did pretty well the first two sets in taking them out of system,” Aggie head coach Grayson DuBose said. “The second two sets they really took it to us. I don’t feel that we passed well or controlled the service line very well.”
The Aggies struggled on offense as junior outside hitter Liz McArthur was the only Aggie spiker to reach double-digit kills with 17. One other bright light in the Aggie loss was senior libero Christine Morrill, who recorded 13 digs to become the all-time digs leader in USU history with 1,617. Morrill passed Kelsi Peterson (2003-06), who previously held the record with 1,614 career digs.
“I’m really proud of Christine and the career that she has had,” DuBose said. “She’s part of a special group of seniors and she’s worked very hard to get where she is.”
Despite the offensive struggles, USU did make things interesting, especially in the first set. After trailing 8-4, the Aggies went on a 8-4 run to tie the set at 12 apiece. The Wolf Pack and Aggies then went back and forth the remainder of the set which saw 10 ties and seven lead changes. McArthur pounded one of her 17 kills to give the Aggies a 23-20 lead late in the set, but the Wolf Pack went on a 6-1 run to capture the first set victory.
The second set was close and saw five ties, but the Aggies were able to hold on for the victory despite the late set push from the Wolf Pack. Baldwin pounded one of her 16 kills to cut the Aggie lead to 23-22, but McArthur and sophomore opposite side hitter Shay Sorensen responded with back-to-back kills to notch the second set victory for USU.
The Wolf Pack applied suffocating defense to take the third set as they held the Aggies to a .114 hitting percentage. There were seven ties and two lead changes in the third set, and, just as in the first set, the Wolf Pack didn’t begin to pull away until late in the set. Senior setter Chelsea Fowles logged a kill to cut the Wolf Pack lead to 20-17, but the Pack responded with a 5-2 run to take a 2-1 set lead heading into the fourth set.
The fourth set would prove to be the final set, as the Wolf Pack quickly built a 9-3 lead, and never trailed as they coasted to the nine-point win. The Wolf Pack hit .500 in the fourth set as compared to a .222 hitting percentage for the Aggies. The Aggies finished the match with a .197 hitting percentage, while the Wolf Pack hit .287 overall. Following the match, DuBose lamented USU’s missed opportunity to get an important conference win on the road, and stressed the importance of bouncing back strong as the Aggies head back to Logan for the next three matches.
“We need to take care of homecourt and our side of the net,” DuBose said. “Homecourt advantage is something that is really important at this moment.”
The Aggies will look to bounce back when they return to action on Thursday, hosting the Louisiana Tech Bulldogs at 7 p.m.
– ty.d.hus@aggiemail.usu.edu