Weekend split for spikers
Sophomore setter Chelsea Fowles had a career-high six kills along with 27 assists and three digs to lead the USU women’s volleyball team to a three-set sweep Saturday night at Boise State.
The Aggies came out strong, jumping to an early 13-3 lead in the first set. USU hit .370 in the set and coasted to a 25-10 win.
“We served well and kept them out of system,” said USU head coach Grayson DuBose.
In the second set, Boise State played better as they worked to a 18-15 lead. Led by senior outside hitter Melissa Osterloh’s six kills, the Aggies rallied, scoring 10 of the last 12 points to win the set, 25-20.
DuBose said Boise State got better and better as the match went on.
The numbers prove DuBose was right, as BSU battled to a 20-18 lead late in the third set. After tie scores at 22-22 and 24-24, freshman outside hitter Emily Kortsen had two straight kills to close the match for USU, winning the set 26-24.
“We had to battle back and forth,” DuBose said of the set. “It was pretty close the whole way through, but we were able to kind of grind it out.”
Senior outside hitter Kris Hymas had a career-high 11 digs along with nine kills for USU, while Osterloh added nine kills and eight digs.
DuBose praised sophomore outside hitter Lori Wilson as she recorded a career-high three service aces in the match.
“She came in off the bench and did an unbelievable job,” DuBose said.
Kortsen added a career-high eight kills while hitting .353.
“We served well and we received serve well,” DuBose said. “Those two things allowed us to be more competitive in the match and kind of take control.”
The Aggies sweep of Boise State came after a four-set loss to Idaho State Thursday night. Fowles had 33 assists, 11 digs and three blocks in the match while hitting .500 for USU.
After hitting .226 and limiting Idaho to a .118 hitting percentage, the Aggies won the first set 25-22.
After jumping to a 1-0 lead in the match, the Aggies lost their momentum.
“In the second game, they just started rolling,” DuBose said.
Idaho hit .600 and limited USU to a negative .269 hitting percentage as they coasted to a 25-8 win.
“They just got on a roll and we couldn’t answer the bell,” DuBose said. “It was kind of a beat-down.”
The 17-point loss seemed to seal USU’s fate, as they lost the next two sets, ending the match.
DuBose said the Aggies came out in the third set and had a chance, but were unable to finish, losing 24-26.
The fourth set didn’t go any better for Utah State as the Vandals finished the match with a 25-16 win.
“We had too much time out of system,” DuBose said. “We weren’t passing well enough to set our quick attack.”
Osterloh led the Aggies with 13 kills, while Haley Larsen led Idaho State with a match-high 21 kills.
“Our biggest problem is that we didn’t spend enough time in system,” Dubose said. “We didn’t spend enough time with our ball control being good enough to keep us in our offense.”
DuBose said the team needs to take care of its side.
“It doesn’t matter who we’re playing at this point,” he said. “We need to make sure we’re taking care of us and taking care of what we can do and control.”
The Aggies, who are now 4-3 in conference play, return to action Thursday night when they host No. 6 Hawaii.
“We have a big match on Thursday,” DuBose said. “It would be fun to have a bunch of people come out to watch that one.”
–joseph.w@aggiemail.usu.edu