Final Stats

RENO, Nev. - Utah State jumped out to early leads in each of the third and fourth sets and road the momentum to a 25-20, 17-25, 25-16, 25-14 victory over Nevada on the road on Thursday night. The victory moves the Aggies to 11-12 on the year and 7-6 in the Mountain West while the Wolf Pack drop to 7-15 and 4-8 in the MW. The win also marked the seventh consecutive for USU over Nevada.

The teams went back-and-forth during the first set as the frame included six lead changes and eight ties. The final deadlock came at 19-19 as Utah State came back from 19-17 down and put together an 8-1 closing run to take the first set, 25-20. The run included four service aces by sophomore defensive specialist Hannah Gleason en route to a career-high five during the match.

Nevada bounced back in the second set, despite a strong 3-0 start by the Aggies. The Wolf Pack came back to tie the match at 5-5 as part of a 7-1 run that gave the home side a 9-6 advantage. A second 8-1 run by Nevada extended the margin to eight, 17-9. The Wolf Pack had their first set point at 24-14, but Utah State stayed in the match and fought off three, before eventually falling 25-17.

Utah State answered an opening point by Nevada in the third set with seven consecutive points of its own, bookended by a pair of senior middle Kaitlyn VanHoff kills. The six-point difference increased to as much as 11 when a Nevada service error put the Aggies up 21-10. Back-to-back errors by Nevada at the end of the set, gave Utah State the 25-16 win and put the Aggies up 2-1 in the match.

Nevada errors continued to be the story in the fourth set as the Wolf Pack committed five over the opening six points, giving Utah State the early 6-0 advantage. The Aggies never looked back after the early lead and built their first double-digit margin at 18-8 on a kill by senior setter Paige Neves. A kill by senior outside Rachel Orr put Utah State up 24-13 with an eventual Wolf Pack service error giving the Aggies the 25-14 victory.

VanHoff led all attackers with 13 kills, hitting .214 (13-7-28) on the night and also paced USU with five blocks. Neves tallied 30 assists to lead the team and senior libero led the Aggies with 18 digs. As a team, Utah State hit .269 with 39 kills on 116 attempts with 23 errors.

Nevada's Sommer King matched VanHoff's 13 kills, leading the Wolf Pack on the night, hitting .235 (13-5-34). As a team, Nevada hit .098 (40-27-133), including .000 in each of the final two sets.

The match marked the first of four road matches for Utah State as the Aggies will now travel to face San José State on Saturday at 7 p.m. in the Spartan Gym. The road trip continues at Utah Valley on Monday night at 7 p.m.

Utah State volleyball season and single-match tickets are available by contacting the USU Ticket Office at the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum during its office hours 10 a.m. - 5 p.m., Monday - Friday or by phone by calling 1-888-USTATE-1 or (435) 797-0305. Season tickets can also be purchased online at www.UtahStateAggies.com, the official website of USU Athletics and clicking on the "Ticket Office" tab.

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

-USU-