Senior outside hitter Jamaica Alisa bashed a career-high 14 kills to help Utah State to a bonus-point filled, 3-1 (32-30, 24-26, 25-21, 32-30) win over San Francisco on Friday night at the Hawai'i Outrigger Volleyball Challenge at UH's Stan Sheriff Center.

Aggie Volleyball Downs Dons In Four Saturday In Hawai'i

Women's Volleyball 9/13/2014 12:00:00 AM

Box Score Sept. 13, 2014

HONOLULU - Three players in double-digit kills, including career-highs from seniors Kaitlyn VanHoff and Jamaica Alisa, propelled Utah State volleyball to a bonus-point filled, 3-1 (32-30, 24-26, 25-21, 32-30) win over San Francisco on Friday night at the Hawai'i Outrigger Volleyball Challenge at UH's Stan Sheriff Center.

USU leveled its weekend mark at 1-1 while evening its season ledger at 4-4. USF dropped its second-straight match of the weekend and third in a row in sliding to 5-3 on the season.

VanHoff smashed a career-high 16 kills on a .414 attack percentage (16-4-29) while Alisa bashed her career-best 14 kills with a .195 attack percentage (14-6-41) and senior outside hitter Rachel Orr added 13 kills on a .314 attack percentage (13-2-35). Another Aggie senior, setter Paige Neves, logged her fourth double-double of the season and 36th of her career with 49 assists and 18 digs, adding six blocks. The fifth Aggie senior, libero Ashlan Rogers-Court logged 17 digs, while adding a team-high three aces.

"I thought we did a great job maintaining our composure at the end of each set," USU head coach Grayson DuBose said. "Our seniors, Kaitlyn, Rachel, Jamaica, Ashlan and Paige really did a wonderful job leading us tonight."

Junior opposite side hitter Elle Brainard posted 10 total blocks (one solo, nine assists), while VanHoff added six blocks and Orr posted four, as Utah State registered 17.5 total team blocks.

USU finished the match hitting .214 (65-26-182) with 65 kills, adding seven aces.

USF posted a .157 attack percentage (63-34-185) with 63 kills, while posting 11.0 total team blocks. Valentina Zaloznik and Anja Segota led the Dons with 17 kills apiece, while Katarina Pilepic posted 12 kills. Kiara McKibben posted 45 assists, Kim Gutierrez registered 20 digs and Zaloznik led USF with eight blocks.

The opening set was back-and-forth in the early going, before USF opened a 13-9 lead and USU took a timeout. Out of the break, the Aggies reeled off four unanswered to pull even at 13-13 after a tandem block by Kamalu and Brainard was squeezed in between a pair of Dons' errors. USF countered and took a 20-17 lead after a kill from Zaloznik, but USU wouldn't go down without a fight, storming back to take a set point at 24-23 after an Alisa kill. However, the night's theme of bonus volleyball started as the Dons forced extra points and the score went from one team up a point to tied until USU won the set at 32-30 after a Kamalu kill then a USF error for the opening frame win.

USF and USU started the second stanza just like they started and ended the first by trading points, before the Aggies pulled away from a 14-all tie with a 6-1 streak for a 20-15 lead, as Kamalu started the spurt with a kill and Neves ended it with a kill. The Dons countered and not only tied the score at 22-22, they went ahead and won the set at 26-24 on a kill by Anja Segota.

In the third set, USU again pulled away from an 11-11 tie with a 5-1 lead to open at 17-12 advantage after a kill by VanHoff capped the spurt. The Dons drew within 20-18 after a block by Pilepic and Oluoma Okaro, but the Aggies charged back by scoring five of the next eight points and took advantage of a USF attack error to end the set at 25-21.

San Francisco bolted out to an 8-3 lead in the fourth frame after a block by Zaloznik and Segota, and USU took a timeout. The Dons stretched their lead to 13-6 before the Aggies posted four unanswered points on a kill by Brainard, then two Alisa kills bookended a Neves kill to pull within 13-10 and USF called for a break. San Francisco again stretched its lead to 16-11 on a Gaffney kill, but the Aggies stampeded back and leveled the score at 20-20 on a kill by Orr. Later, the Dons got to set point at 24-23 on a Pilepic kill and USU called its final timeout of the set and it iced Kim Gutierrez on the serve and she had an error to send the set to another bonus volleyball score. Again the teams traded tallies, going to 30-30 but then freshman Rachel Gale bashed a kill before USF had an attack error to seal the set at 32-30 to give the Aggies the 3-1 match victory.

USU wraps up the weekend at the Hawai'i Outrigger Volleyball Challenge on Saturday, Feb. 13 by taking on No. 25 UCLA at 6 p.m. (MT).

The Aggies then return home to the friendly confines of Kirby Court at Wayne Estes Center to battle Beehive State foe Utah on Wednesday, Sept. 17 at 7 p.m. in an "Aggie Blue Out," with all USU fans encouraged to wear Aggie blue.

Season tickets for the inaugural Utah State volleyball season at Kirby Court at Wayne Estes Center are now on sale. Fans can get reserved chairback season tickets for $50, while general admission season tickets are $40. Additionally, fans can purchase a Women's Sports Pass for $75, which is good for general admission to all volleyball, women's basketball and gymnastics home events.

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-

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