Volleyball still winless on road after loss at SDSU

The Utah State volleyball team is still winless on the road this season after a 3-0 loss to San Diego State on Thursday night.

The Aggies are 5-16 overall and 1-6 in conference.

“We have to be better at the end of matches,” said head coach Grayson Dubose.

Poor end-of-match play has been a common theme for the Aggies this season. The Aggies dropped each of the first two matches 25-17, but battled the Aztecs to 21-21, 23-22 and 24-23 scores in the final set. USU was unable to take the lead down the stretch, though.

“We are just not attending to the details at the end,” Dubose said. “Hitting errors and service errors late are just killing us right now.”

Utah State had two ball handling errors, two service errors and allowed two service aces in the final set. In a game that was in doubt until the final point, the number of unearned points given away by the Aggies looms large.

The defense also struggled for USU as SDSU scored 44 kills, seven service aces and had an attacking percentage of .354. On the evening, the Aggies only had one block.

“That isn’t going to get it done,” Dubose said. “We need to defend better.”

On the other side of the ball, USU hit .255 with 38 kills as a team. Junior outside hitter Kaylie Kamalu paced the Aggies with 11 kills. Sophomore opposite side hitter Kayla Decoursey added nine kills.

Junior libero Hannah Gleason had 23 digs on the back line, her sixth game this season with 20 or more digs. Junior setter Erica Moscoso led both teams with 32 assists.

Utah State now heads to Reno for the first matchup of the season against the Nevada Wolfpack.

“Nevada has been playing well and are good at home,” Dubose said. “It is a fun gym to play in, it’s loud and we’ll need to be ready to go on Saturday.”

– Thomas.sorenson@aggiemail.usu.edu

Twitter: @tomcat340