Vollyball leashes Bulldogs in three set rout
The Utah State Aggies (13-2, 1-1 WAC) defended their home winning streak in their first Western Athletic Conference home game of the season Thursday night. Only a week removed from falling hard to No. 5 Hawaii on the road in three sets, the Aggies returned the favor as they defeated the Fresno State Bulldogs in three sets (25-19, 25-17, 25-14).
Sophomore opposite side hitter Shay Sorensen lead the Aggies with 12 kills, but it was the defense that came up huge for the Aggies. The Aggies came up with 14 block-assists and senior middle blocker Katie Astle led the Aggies with one solo block and four block-assists.
“They have a really good team and so we feel really good about the way we played. Being able to come out and win solidly in three sets was good for us,” Astle said. “We know that when we pass well and have our offense clicking, it’s hard to stop us. We always expect a good game but we know that we can really dominate if we pass well.”
The first set saw five ties and three lead changes and both teams had a hard time gaining any kind of advantage. Junior outside hitter Liz McArthur got one of her four kills during the first set to give the Aggies an 11-8 lead and the Bulldogs called a timeout to try and hold the Aggies close. The Bulldogs were able to capitalize as freshman outside hitter Korrin Wild hit an ace and a kill to cut the Aggie to lead to 12-11. The Aggies then rallied off four straight points capped by a block from sophomore outside hitter Josselyn White. The Aggies held the lead for the remainder of the set and McArthur scored three of the last four points to help the Aggies to a 25-19 victory in set one.
Set two was much of the same. The Bulldogs kept things close until the midpoint of the set. With the set knotted at nine apiece, Sorenson came up with a big kill and McArthur added a kill and block to give the Aggies a 14-11 advantage. After the Aggies extended their lead to six, the Bulldogs made a mini-run capped by a block from senior outside hitter Kasey Van Grouw to cut the lead to 20-17. The Aggies would go on to rally off five straight points and take set two, 25-17.
In the third and final set, the Bulldogs ran out of steam. Sorenson got things going in the right direction for the Aggies with back-to-back kills to start the set. White and senior middle blocker Shantell Durrant got into the action, each pounding a block. Senior setter Chelsea Fowles had a great stretch with four aces and a kill and the Aggies ran their lead to 23-10. The Aggies finished the set on a McArthur kill and the Aggies won 25-14.
The Aggies dominated the Bulldogs in many categories but head coach Grayson Dubose said he was especially pleased with the Aggie serves and crisp play.
“I thought we served the heck out of the ball and I thought it kept those guys on their heels,” Dubose said. “For us it comes down to serve, serve-receive. If we can pass well and be in-system then we can hit for some nice percentages. If we can pass well and take teams out of system then the rest will fall into place.”
The Bulldogs were fraught with errors and scrambling all night, but the Aggies played smart and mostly error free.
“We didn’t make a bunch of errors,” DuBose said. “We didn’t go blast the ball into the net a bunch. We didn’t get as many kills as we would like, but we didn’t make any stupid errors either.”
The Aggies host the San Jose State Spartans on Saturday night. Game time is set for 7 p.m. at the Spectrum.
-ty.d.hus@aggiemail.usu.edu