Volleyball team falls to UCSB in three games
It came down to 23 unforced hitting errors. Basically, 23 free points for the other team.
“That’s the ball game,” head coach Burt Fuller said. “We out-served them, we got more kills. We lost by 18 points and we gave them 23.”
UC Santa Barbara only had eight errors Thursday night – it came down to only 15 points.
“That’s something that’s been plaguing us all season long,” Fuller said.
The Utah State volleyball team fell to UC Santa Barbara in three games Thursday in the Spectrum.
The 3-10 record, 0-6 in the conference, definitely doesn’t show it, but the Aggies proved they can play with some of the best of them by keeping up with No. 13 Santa Barbara.
“Our record freakin’ sucks,” head coach Burt Fuller said, “but we’re not that bad. We’re not a terrible team. We just do crappy things in bunches. We make too many hitting errors.”
Along with unforced hitting errors, another thing that hurt the Ags against the Guachos were three potential starters sidelined with injuries. Sophomores Beth Hodge and Mari Ruddick have been out all season, but Erin Graybill was forced to watch the game from the side because of a stress fracture she suffered recently.
“We’re probably going to have to stay with this lineup for a while,” Fuller said. “Graybill is out now, injured. There’s three potential starters that are sitting on the bench next to us and we’ve got to fill them in with freshmen.”
Freshmen Amanda Orgill and Amanda Fahnestock were able to see playing time against the Gauchos.
“Orgill under the weather, a little sick, started out slow and came back,” Fuller said. Monarisa Ale, another freshman, started for the Ags in the middle.
In the first game of the match, Orgill scored the four of the first 11 points for the Aggies. She finished the night with 10 kills.
Fahnestock was a spark for the offense, throwing the UCSB defense off hitting in the middle. She finished the night with five kills.
“We got two players that we put in the middle that were freshmen,” Fuller said, “that haven’t really played middle in college before and they get thrown in to play against the No. 13 team in the country.”
Junior Zuzana Cernianska led the way for the Aggies with 20 kills and only seven errors.
Fuller said that Cernianska has been having some tough games lately, but she was back on the right side and playing strong against Santa Barbara.
“Our left side production, our percentages, just aren’t good enough to beat a team, especially not a 13th ranked team,” Fuller said. “We can’t make that many errors. We’re a good team, we win long rallies, we just don’t have to terminate the ball every time.”
The Aggies will next face Cal Poly, Saturday in the Spectrum. The game starts at noon so it can end before the football game begins.
Cal Poly has the same conference record as the Aggies. The Mustangs are tied for last with Utah State. The California team has lost seven straight matches going into Saturday and 13 of its last 14.
“Cal Poly is banged up and sick,” Fuller said. “They’re playing some people out of position. Both of us are really hungry for that first conference win, it’ll feel good.”
-aedmunds@cc.usu.edu