Woman’s volleyball team notches Cal Poly in four games
With the score one game apiece and 20-20 in the pivotal third game, the Utah State University women’s volleyball team needed something to break the match open.
The Aggies got it in the form of defensive intensity, scoring seven of the next eight points en route to a 3-1 victory (30-27, 27-30, 30-23, 30-20) over California Polytechnic University on Saturday afternoon at the Spectrum.
“We picked up our intensity,” said middle blocker Michelle Matheson. “We got fired up and all [of us] got excited for each other.”
“I think our intensity level went up, our talking went up,” sophomore Erin Cartwright said. “We dug more balls, but mostly, I think it was our intensity.”
Following Thursday’s harrowing five-game loss to the University of California-Santa Barbara, the Aggies (5-4 overall, 2-1 in the Big West Conference) were eager to get back on track against the Mustangs – a team picked to finish ahead of them in the Big West.
“I think after Thursday, we wanted to win really bad, especially since they [Cal Poly] were ranked above us,” Matheson said.
Matheson certainly did her part in leading the Aggies to victory. The senior battered the Mustangs, finishing the match with 20 kills, 9 digs and 5 block assists.
“Michelle Matheson, they couldn’t stop her,” head coach Burt Fuller said.
While Matheson enjoyed a dominating performance, USU had several players with key contributions.
Lisa Borom and Cartwright each finished with double digits in kills (17 and 12, respectively), Heather Olmstead dug 16 balls and setter Chelsi Neves was her normal, steady presence in the middle, finishing with 60 assists and three service aces.
While Fuller said he was happy with the entire team’s level of effort, he was especially pleased with Olmstead, who was playing with a banged-up ankle and knee.
“She brings some intangibles that are key for us,” Fuller said. “She’s a pretty tough kid.”
As easy as the end of the third game and fourth game was for the Aggies, the first two games were a dogfight against the Mustangs (9-4, 3-2 in the Big West).
Like it did the entire match, Cal Poly jumped out to a quick lead in the first game at 5-1 before the Aggies went on a 10-2 run, giving them a 12-8 advantage.
The Mustangs seemed to dictate play, out-hitting USU .273 to .217 and pounding them on the blocks, but consistent serving by the Aggies compounded by poor communication by the Mustangs allowed the Aggies to stay a few points ahead.
After Cal Poly scored three straight points to cut the deficit to 28-25, Neves took over, hitting two straight crafty dumps to close the game. Neves also had two aces in the first game.
Cal Poly came out strong in game two behind the strong hitting of outside hitter Molly Duncan to take a 7-2 lead.
USU battled back and tied the game at 13-13 on a Hailey MacKay spike, but attack errors started taking their toll.
Two straight blocks by the Mustang combo of Worthy Lien and Ana Douglas and a service ace by defensive specialist Gwen Hubbard tied the match at 1-1.
Defensively, the Mustangs were in control, out-blocking the Aggies 10-5 and out-digging them 29-22. USU also hurt its own cause with 12 attack errors in the second game.
That all changed midway through the third game.
A MacKay and Borom block gave the Aggies a 23-20 advantage, but it was the next point which seemed to give the team the emotional boost it needed.
Cartwright appeared to put USU up 24-20 on a spike, however it was ruled she went over the net to slam the ball home.
Though displeased with the call, Cartwright would respond with two kills and a block with the assistance of Olmstead, taking the Aggies to a 26-21 advantage.
“When I get angry, I tend to play better,” she said.
The rest of the match would belong to the Aggies as aggressive kills by Borom and Matheson gave the Aggies a 2-1 lead they wouldn’t relinquish.
One of the biggest difference makers was USU’s ability to hit from the back line, which in turn, opened up the rest of the court, Fuller said.
“Once we started doing that halfway through game three, we started getting some more kills,” he said. “It spread out their block a little bit and it was at that point that we started to get more kills from the left side.”