Volleyball goes 0-3 in Reno tourney
It wasn’t the weekend the Utah State volleyball team was hoping for – losing to sixth-ranked Stanford 3-1, and falling 3-0 to University of Nevada and St. Mary’s.
“It was a good first time going out and actually playing against another team,” Aggie senior Kindy Peterson said. “But I think we could have done better.”
“We’re disappointed we weren’t able to pick up the last victory,” Utah State Head Coach Burt Fuller said. “[However], I was encouraged with what I saw.”
Junior Zuzana Cernianska led the way for the Aggies this weekend. Other strong forces for USU came from Peterson, junior Ingrid Roth and sophomore Kelsie Thoman.
The only win for the Aggies this past weekend came against Stanford. Although the Cardinals won the first match 30-23, the Ags came back and won the second game 30-28. But the Ags were unable to keep it up and lost the next two games 30-20 and 30-17.
“We had some good performances, but they weren’t consistent,” said Fuller. “We need to be consistent.”
Cernianska led the way against Stanford with 15 kills and Peterson added 10.
Utah State didn’t see a win for the rest of the weekend. This could be due to the fact that two sophomores, Mari Ruddick and Beth Hodge were both injured. Because, as Fuller said, they had experience and had played at the Division I level before.
“There [was] some inexperience,” he said. “Beth has been there, done that and is more comfortable playing.”
The second day of the tournament was a tough day for the Aggies as they lost 3-0 to both Nevada and St. Mary’s.
“Zuzana was a strength for us,” Fuller said of the Czech junior who led the way with 18 kills against Nevada and 16 against St. Mary’s.
Fuller also said Peterson and Thoman had some good moments this weekend. Against Nevada, Peterson recorded 14 kills and against St.Mary’s Thoman put up 17 digs.
Fuller and Peterson both said one thing the team really needs to work on receiving the serve. Fuller said the team need to work on not just getting the ball to the center.
“Basically we just need to stay in our columns and don’t give up easy balls,” Peterson said.
“I see everything as worth two points,” Fuller said, “a point they got and one we didn’t.”
Despite the tough weekend, however, the team is looking forward to coming out strong in its future matches.
“I think we’re a good team,” Peterson said. “I think we just have to practice hard and get better.”
The Aggies head up to Idaho on Sept. 8 to face off against Idaho State.
According to Fuller, ISU has made some improvements to their program, and they want a win against the Aggies.
“This is a great group of girls,” Fuller said. “They work really hard.”
-aedmunds@cc.usu.edu