Oct. 26, 2006

Final Stats

RUSTON, La. - Amanda Nielson recorded 15 kills and 13 digs to lead Utah State's women's volleyball team to a four-game win (31-29, 30-27, 21-30, 30-27) against Louisiana Tech here Thursday night. Nielson was one of four Aggie players to notch double-digits in kills during the match.

With the win, Utah State improves to 12-13 on the season and 5-6 in the Western Athletic Conference, while Louisiana Tech falls to 6-20 overall and 0-9 in league play with the loss. All-time, USU is now 4-0 against the Lady Techsters.

Other Aggies to record double-digits in kills included Hailey Jeppson (13), Beth Hodge (12), and Melissa Larson (11). Jeppson also recorded 14 digs in the match, while Hodge added eight.

Utah State jumped out to a quick 9-2 lead in game one only to see Louisiana Tech chip away and tie it at 23. With the Lady Techsters up 29-28, USU fought back and scored the final three points to notch the win. Utah State hit .244 (19-9-41) in the opening game, while holding Louisiana Tech to a .190 (15-7-42) hitting percentage.

In game two, Utah State used an 8-0 run to break open a close contest en route to the three-point win. USU hit just .067 (11-8-45) in that second game, but LTU hit just .041 (15-13-49) and had 13 hitting errors.

Louisiana Tech scored the first two points of the third game and eventually led 20-10 as it coasted to the nine-point win. In the third game, LTU hit a blistering .389 (17-3-36), while USU hit .143 (16-10-42).

In the fourth and final game, Utah State finished the match with a 5-0 run to turn a 27-25 deficit into a 30-27 victory. USU hit .140 (13-7-43) in the game as compared to a .188 (17-8-48) hitting percentage for Louisiana Tech, who had five service errors in the game.

Louisiana Tech was led by Shannon Phillips who had a match-high 18 kills to go along with 15 digs and five blocks.

Overall, Utah State hit .146 (59-34-171) as compared to a .189 (64-31-175) hitting percentage for Louisiana Tech. The Lady Techsters also recorded two more team blocks (10-8), while Utah State had two more digs (67-65). The difference in the match came down to serving as USU recorded one more service ace (3-2) and seven fewer service errors (13-6).

Utah State returns to action on Sat., Oct. 28 when it plays at 23rd-ranked New Mexico State at 7 p.m. (MT).

Utah State 3, Louisiana Tech 1
USU        31           30           21           30
LTU        29           27           30           27