Volleyball wins two in California
Home, sweet home? More like road, sweet road for the Utah State University Volleyball team. After dropping two straight matches at home, the Aggies went on the road and scored back to back impressive wins. The Aggies stomped San Jose State on Oct. 28 in three sets, and then followed it up with a gutsy five-set win over Fresno State on Oct. 30.
“We competed well in spots,” head coach Grayson DuBose said of the last few home games. “We just need to compete well for as long as we can.”
The Aggies came out against San Jose State and definitely did that. Despite letting San Jose jump out to early leads in the first two sets, USU stayed tough and competitive, and eventually went on to win the match in straight sets. Liz McArthur and Josselyn White led Utah State in the win, as they combined for 23 kills and 11 digs.
“We were real dialed-in right from the beginning,” DuBose said. “We kind of got after it and put those guys on their heels and then just kept rolling.”
The Aggies’ game against Fresno State was somewhat of a different story. Utah State came out and absolutely dominated the first two sets, winning 25-13 and 25-12 thanks to the play of McArthur as well as senior setter Chelsea Fowles.
“We started out real well and then Fresno got better,” DuBose said. “They’re a good volleyball team and they compete real hard.”
Fresno State, true to the coach’s words, wasn’t about to roll over and die. The Bulldogs rallied back and won the next two sets to tie the match at 2-2. The game went to a deciding fifth set where the Aggies were able to pull it off, winning the set 15-12.
“Our big focus has always been taking care of our side of the net,” DuBose said. “While our passing wasn’t as accurate as it has been in the past, our blocking was really good; we were able to make up for that one deficit by being better in another area.”
McArthur and Fowles have been essential to the Aggies’ success this season, and their dominance was apparent during their most recent road trip. Fowles registered a career-high 17 digs against Fresno State and McArthur led the team in kills in both matches.
“Chelsea’s just Chelsea,” DuBose said of his superstar setter. “She’s always been good, but she’s really been focused this year and played with a sense of urgency.”
Fowles, who this year became the all-time assists leader in USU history, has found herself going to McArthur more and more throughout the year as McArthur’s game has continued to progress.
“Liz is really starting to figure it out,” DuBose said. “She’s always been a power hitter, but now she’s starting to learn some other subtleties of the game. She’s made big strides.”
Following their impressive road play, USU returns home for a three game home-stand, starting with Boise State on Nov. 4. In order to keep up their winning streak, DuBose is looking for effort from his squad.
“We want to just compete,” he said. “We want to make sure that we’re doing those things that we can control. We can control our effort and we can control how hard we work and those for us are real big keys.”
This next stretch also marks the final three home games for the Aggies before they head to the WAC tournament, and DuBose said he knows how important and effective home court advantage can be in these pivotal games. “It’d be great if a bunch of people came out these next three matches,” DuBose said. “These will be our last three matches at home; it’d be fun to have a bunch of people come and cheer us on.
– mark.israelsen@aggiemail.usu.edu