Volleyball loses in three sets at home to New Mexico State
After their convincing three-set victory over Louisiana Tech on Thursday, Utah State Aggie sophomore outside hitter Josselyn White said her team had trouble being consistent. Just two days after that dominating performance, Utah State (15-6, 3-5 WAC) came up on the losing end of a hard fought battle as they fell Saturday night to the New Mexico State Aggies (15-9, 9-1) in three sets (23-25, 18-25, 21-25). Despite the sweep, Utah State head coach Grayson DuBose was not disappointed with his team’s effort.
“We gave ourselves some chances,” DuBose said. “At the end of the day, that’s all we can do, is to give ourselves opportunities. We played well, just not well enough.”
New Mexico State dominated almost every statistical category and received strong performances from many players. Freshman outside hitter Rocio Gutierrez and junior middle blocker Kelsey Brennan pounded 12 kills apiece for New Mexico State. DuBose spoke highly of New Mexico State, but he was especially impressed with senior outside hitter Kayleigh Giddens, who logged a match-high 17 kills.
“Giddens is kind of a load,” DuBose said. “We don’t see a player like her very often and for sure can’t simulate that kind of stuff in our gym. We had a hard time stopping her; we had a hard time stopping a lot of people. They’re experienced, they’re good, and they were just better than us tonight for sure.”
Utah State held a couple of leads during the first set, but New Mexico State never panicked and responded at key times. Utah State held a 22-21 lead late in set one when Brennan logged back-to-back kills to give New Mexico State the lead. Brennan eventually pounded another kill to seal the first set victory.
Utah State led by as much as three points during the second set, but they did not last as long in set two as they did in set one before New Mexico State took over. With the game tied at 15 apiece, New Mexico State used a 10-3 run to cruise to a 25-18 victory. Utah State kept things close in the third set as well and even made a late run, but New Mexico State held off the late rally to complete the sweep.
“We could have rolled over and I don’t think we did that at all,” DuBose said. “I think we kept giving it our best shot.”
Utah State will need more than its best shot as they take on the No. 4 ranked Hawaii Wahine tonight at 8 p.m. in the Spectrum. Giddens and New Mexico State proved to be a tough match-up for Utah State, but it will have another solid player to deal with in Wahine junior outside hitter Kanani Danielson.
“Hawaii is good, and they’re physical and they’re big,” DuBose said. “They boast one of the best outside hitters in the country in Kanani Danielson and she’s amazing. She’s a very good volleyball player. They are the No. 4 team and there is a reason they are the No. 4 team.”
– ty.d.hus@aggiemail.usu.edu