Nov. 6, 2003

Final Stats

LOGAN, Utah - Sophomore opposite side hitter Zuzana Cernianska (Prague, Czech Republic) recorded a match-high 24 kills to go along with 11 digs to lead Utah State to a four-game win (30-17, 29-31, 30-25, 31-29) over Cal Poly here Thursday night. With the win, USU improved to 15-9 overall and 7-6 in the Big West Conference, while the Mustangs fall to 12-13 overall and 4-10 in league play with the loss.

"We started out pretty well tonight, but I was disappointed that we went to sleep a little bit after the first game," said USU head coach Burt Fuller. "However, I thought our team responded pretty well down the stretch and had some big blocks to get the win."

Utah State dominated the opening game of the match behind six kills from Cernianska and five from senior middle blocker Erin Cartwright-Davis (Hyrum, Utah) as the Aggies hit a blistering .559. USU seemed to be in good position to win the second game up 28-24, but Cal Poly scored seven of the final eight points in the game to even the match.

The Mustangs carried that momentum from game two into game three and built an early six-point lead at 13-7 before USU rallied to tie the score at 14. With the game tied at 23, Utah State scored seven of the final nine points to go up two games to one. In the fourth and final game, the Aggies recorded the two-point victory despite hitting just .018 as USU notched 18 kills in the game as compared to just 10 for Cal Poly.

Along with Cernianska's 24 kills, Cartwright-Davis added 15 kills and five blocks, while freshman outside hitter Beth Hodge (Broken Arrow, Okla.) had her best night of the season recording career-highs in kills with 18 and blocks with 13, while hitting a team-high .333 in the match. Sophomore middle blocker Ingrid Roth (Barrington, Ill.) added 10 kills and five blocks, while senior libero Taubi Neves (Otto, Wyo.) had a team-high 14 digs. Senior outside hitter Molly Duncan paced Cal Poly with 15 kills, 12 digs and six blocks.

As a team, Utah State hit .228 in the match, while Cal Poly hit .200. USU also recorded 15 more kills (74-59) and six more digs (64-58), while the Mustangs notched four more team blocks (16-12).

Utah State returns to action on Sat., Nov. 8 against No. 19 UC Santa Barbara at the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum beginning at 7 p.m.

UTAH STATE 3, Cal Poly 1USU     30  29  30  31CAL POLY    17  31  25  29