Sept. 21, 2013

Box Score

BOISE, Idaho -- For the second time this week, the Utah State volleyball team stopped Boise State, earning the 3-1 road win (26-24, 25-21, 18-25, 25-17) Saturday night.

The Aggies improved to 8-4 overall and 2-0 in Mountain West Conference action, with both league wins coming over the Broncos after collecting a sweep on Wednesday in Logan. BSU dropped to 5-6 overall and 0-2 in MW play. With the two wins this week, USU beat BSU for the 11th-straight time, including winning six of the last nine meetings in Boise, and the Aggies cut the Broncos gap in the overall series to 18-16.

Rachel Orr (Thatcher, Ariz.) led four Aggies in double-digit kills with 14, while sophomore opposite side hitter Elle Brainard (Saratoga Springs, Utah) notched 13 kills.

Tumua Etimani (Richardson, Texas) posted one of the two Aggie double-doubles with 10 kills and 13 digs, for her fifth double-double of both the season and her career. Kaitlyn VanHoff (Draper, Utah) was the fourth USU player with 10 kills.

Senior middle blocker Alyssa Everett (Perry, Utah) posted five kills on eight attacks with no errors for a .625 attack percentage.

Junior setter Paige Neves (Otto, Wyo.) was the second USU player with a double-double with 40 assists and 10 digs. It was Neves' fourth double-double this season and 27th of her career.

VanHoff led a USU blocking attack with four block assists while Everett, Etimani and Brainard posted three block assists each. Junior libero Ashlan Rogers-Court (Highland, Utah) added 11 digs, while freshman defensive specialist Hannah Gleason (Las Flores, Calif.) tied a career-high by serving up two service aces.

The Aggies hit .310 (55-16-126), including hitting .366 (17-2-41) in the first set and .360 (13-4-25) in the fourth frame. Boise State notched a .209 (56-27-139) attack percentage.

The Broncos were led by Sarah Horton with 13 kills, while Hannah Hubbard posted 15 digs, Taylor Murphey posted four blocks. Sarah Baugh distributed 25 assists while Casey Rose doled out 20 helpers.

In the opening set, Utah State started swiftly, taking the first two points after kills by Etimani and VanHoff. The Aggies opened a 12-8 lead folowing another VanHoff kill. After the Broncos fought back to tie the score at 15-15, Utah State reeled off five-straight points to take a 20-15 lead. However, BSU bounced back to tie it at 24-24. In set one, the Aggies never trailed, and made sure they didn't start in bonus volleyball part of set one, finally closing out the set after a Brianard kill and a Bronco error.

Set two was very tight with neither team taking more than a two-point lead through the first half of the set. The Broncos won five-straight points to take its biggest lead of the match, 18-14 after an Alyssa Gammel kill. The Aggies bounced back, winning five-straight to take a 19-18 lead. Brainard provided a kill to give USU a 21-20 lead. After Boise State tied the score at 21-21 following a Sarah Horton kill, Utah State won the remaining four points of the set to take a 25-21 second-set victory.

Set three was all Broncos, as Boise State never trailed after losing the first point of the set. Three-straight points later in the set gave BSU a 22-15 lead, forcing a Utah State timeout. Despite back-to-back points from Brainard, one on a kill and one on a block assist cutting the lead to 23-17, the Broncos took care of business and stopped a string of eight-straight sets won by the Aggies.

Gleason served up her two aces on back-to-back plays top open a 12-8 Aggie advantage in the fourth set. The lead grew to 17-10 after an Orr kill before the Broncos bounced back to close to 18-14 after a block, but the Aggies pulled away. Etimani and VanHoff teamed up for a block and then Brainard and VanHoff paired up for a block for the final points at 25-17. Ironically, Brainard and VanHoff had a block for the final points of USU's sweep over BSU on Wednesday.

USU continues action on the road, playing at Fresno State on Thursday, Sept. 26 and at San José State on Saturday, Sept. 28 before returning home to host New Mexico on Thursday, Oct. 3 at 7 p.m.

Utah State volleyball tickets are available by contacting the USU Ticket Office at the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum or by phone by calling 1-888-USTATE-1 or (435) 797-0305.

Fans can also follow the Aggie volleyball program at twitter.com/USUVolleyball, on facebook at facebook.com/USUVolleyball or on instagram at instagram.com/usuvolleyball. Aggie fans can also follow the Utah State athletic program at twitter.com/USUAthletics or on facebook at facebook.com/USUAthletics.