Volleyball serves up success
Utah State 3, Syracuse 1
Senior All-American outside hitter Liz McArthur posted her fourth double-double of the season, with 13 kills and 11 digs, to help Utah State’s volleyball team (2-3) notch a four-set win (25-23, 25-23, 17-25, 25-19) against Syracuse (3-1) here, Friday, in the second day of the Utah State Invitational, sponsored by Gossner Foods.
Junior outside hitter Josselyn White added 12 kills, 15 digs and four block assists for Utah State, while Ashlan Rogers recorded a career-high 19 digs. Freshman setter Paige Neves also had a season-high 19 digs to go along with a season-high six block assists, and junior middle blocker Alyssa Everett had a season-best eight block assists.
Noemie Lefebvre and Ying Shen each had 16 kills to pace Syracuse, while Ashley Williams finished with a match-best 28 digs.
McArthur led Utah State with five kills in the first set as the Aggies hit .093 (11-7-43) and held Syracuse to a .020 (12-11-50) hitting percentage. With the set tied at 14-14, USU went on a 7-2 run to go up 21-16 and then held on for the 25-23 win.
McArthur added four kills in set two, as did junior opposite side hitter Shay Sorensen, as USU hit .135 (13-6-52) and SU hit .073 (14-10-55). Syracuse led by three early on in the set, but Utah State rallied late scoring five of the final eight points for the win.
Syracuse used a 10-3 run in the third set to coast to the 25-17 win as it hit .261 (10-4-23) and limited Utah State to a negative .042 (8-9-24) hitting percentage.
Everett led Utah State with four kills in the fourth set as the Aggies hit .059 (8-5-51) and held the Orange to a .000 (12-12-58) hitting percentage. In the fourth and final set, USU went on a 12-4 run in building a 20-12 advantage before posting the six-point win.
Utah State finished the match with a .076 (40-27-170) hitting percentage and Syracuse hit .059 (.48-37-186). USU also out-blocked the Orange, 15.5-15.0, while SU posted four more digs (88-84). Both teams finished with three service aces, and Syracuse had three more service errors (6-3).
Utah State 3, Texas State 2
Utah State carried its momentum from Friday right into Saturday, in the final match of the Utah State Invitational.
Behind a stand-out performance from White, who notched a career-high 20 kills, the Aggies defeated the Texas State Bobcats in five sets and claimed the tournament championship.
The strong performance USU displayed was rather different to how it played on Thursday. White said Head coach Grayson DuBose gave his team a little pep talk on Thursday, after dropping a disappointing match to Idaho State.
“On Thursday, we had a little talk with Grayson afterwards, and he said that we needed to be better,” White said. “He called up on us juniors and seniors to play better … play more aggressive was the big thing. I took that upon myself and I think the rest of us did too, to just come out and be aggressive and give everything we have and trust that our defense will have our back and cover us. That paid off for us. It’s a huge difference.”
White hit 20-4-42 for a .381 percentage and earned the tournament Most Valuable Player.
“She had a great match. She hits .381 on 42 swings and 20 kills, that’s a heck of a deal,” DuBose said. “I think really she did a great job of hitting with some range where she was mixing up the ball a little bit — tip shots, roll shots, angles, lines — I think she kinda had the whole package going tonight.”
USU traded sets with Texas State and headed in to the fifth set with an 0-2 record on the season in games decided in the fifth set.
USU was the first to eight points and never looked back on its way to a15-10 victory. White had five kills to propel the Aggies in the fifth set, including three consecutive kills to win the set.
Utah State 3, Weber State 2
Fresh off of a Utah State Invitational victory, the USU women’s volleyball team was ready to roll, Tuesday night, and it showed, as the Aggies pulled out the win in a five-match thriller against in-state foe Weber State, 3-2.
It looks like their early season struggles are well behind them.
“I think we’re being more aggressive. When you play hard, something good is going to happen,” DuBose said.
The Aggies, who started the season 1-3, are now 4-3 and riding a three-game winning streak.
After winning the first game 25-18 and jumping out to an early lead in the second game, it looked like the Aggies would be on their way to a quick and easy victory.
Weber State, however, had different plans and overcame an early second-set deficit to win 25-23 and tie it at one set each.
The Aggies took control early, once again, in the third set, and this time held on for a tight 25-23 win.
Weber State looked to be headed for a comfortable win in the fourth set before USU stormed back and tied the game at 17, then again at 22. The Aggies then took a 23-22 lead and looked poised for the win, but Weber State hung in and pulled off another 25-23 win.
The fifth set was more of the same back-and-forth volleyball, but in the end the Aggies’ stellar defense helped them prevail, 15-13 and 3-2, for the match.
“It’s pretty exciting. There was a lot of emotion,” DuBose said. “In the fifth set we had some really nice blocking. That was the difference.”
DuBose also noted the crowd, even though it was in Ogden, was full of Aggies and made a big difference.
“The crowd was great,” DuBose said. “Give a shout out to the Aggie fans who came down.”
The Aggies will now prepare for the remaining three matches they have this week, at the Long Beach State Baden Classic, against Oregon State, Long Beach State and SMU.
DuBose and the Aggies will look to keep the momentum going and the streak alive.
“We’re up for the challenge,” DuBose said.
—s.eliason3@gmail.com
Tyler Huskinson and USU Media Relations contributed to this report