Sept. 4, 2010
Final Stats
TEMPE, Ariz. - Junior outside hitter Liz McArthur recorded a match-high 17 kills to lead Utah State to an easy three-set win (25-18, 25-22, 25-17) against host Arizona State here Saturday afternoon to win the Sheraton Classic.
Utah State, who improved to 6-0 with the win, is now off to its best start to a season since the 1979 national runner-up team won its first 11 matches. USU, who defeated San Diego State (3-1) and Seattle (3-2) Friday, has now claimed back-to-back tournaments as it won the Utah Classic last weekend. Arizona State falls to 2-4 on the year with the loss.
McArthur (St. George, Utah) finished the match with a .419 (17-4-31) hitting percentage, while senior middle blocker Katie Astle (Sandy, Utah) hit .800 (4-0-5). Senior setter Chelsea Fowles (Hollister, Calif.) hit .556 (5-0-9) and senior middle blocker Shantell Durrant (American Fork, Utah) hit .333 (5-1-12), while adding five block assists.
Sophomore opposite side hitter Shay Sorensen (North Ogden, Utah) also played well for Utah State as she hit .357 (7-2-14) and tied her career-high with seven kills, while sophomore outside hitter Josselyn White (Smithfield, Utah) had nine kills and tied her career-high with seven digs.
Sarah Reaves had 13 kills and Jenny Teslavich added 10 digs to lead Arizona State.
Utah State trailed early on during the first set before using a 7-1 run to turn a 10-7 deficit into a 14-11 advantage. USU then used a pair of 5-0 runs to post the seven-point win. McArthur led the Aggies with seven kills in the opening set and USU hit .500 (17-2-30), while Arizona State hit just .129 (11-7-31).
McArthur had seven more kills in set two as Utah State jumped out to a quick 4-1 lead and eventually posted the three-point win. USU hit .297 (16-5-37) in set two and ASU hit .133 (9-5-30).
In the third and final set, Utah State quickly built a 10-4 lead and led 20-11 before posting the eight-point win. White had six kills for USU in the set as it hit .385 (14-4-26) and held the Sun Devils to a .000 (10-10-31) hitting percentage.
Utah State finished the match with a season-high .387 (47-11-93) hitting percentage as compared to a .087 (30-22-92) hitting percentage for Arizona State. USU also had 2.5 more team blocks (7.0-4.5) in the match, while ASU had three more service aces (4-1), two more digs (30-28) and four fewer service errors (9-5).
Utah State will return to action next weekend as it travels to Missoula, Mont., to compete in the Montana Invitational with Temple, North Dakota and the host Grizzlies.
