Redshirt-freshman Hannah Smith had a smashing Aggie debut Saturday, posting 13 blocks and nine kills in Utah State's two matches on the day. USU dropped the day's first match in five sets to Pepperdine (25-22, 22-25, 22-25, 25-18, 5-15), the Aggies bounced back and rallied to beat Idaho, 3-1 (21-25, 25-18, 25-19, 25-22) in the nightcap on Friday in the opening day of action at the UC Irvine Invitational at UCI's Crawford Court.

USU Volleyball Splits Action Friday At UC Irvine Invitational

Women's Volleyball 9/5/2014 12:00:00 AM

Box Score Sept. 5, 2014

IRVINE, Calif. - After Utah State volleyball dropped the day's first match in five sets to Pepperdine (25-22, 22-25, 22-25, 25-18, 5-15), the Aggies bounced back and rallied to beat Idaho, 3-1 (21-25, 25-18, 25-19, 25-22) in the nightcap on Friday in the opening day of action at the UC Irvine Invitational at UCI's Crawford Court.

With the 1-1 outing on the day, USU is now 2-3 and returns to the court Saturday afternoon at 3 p.m. (MT) to wrap up the weekend and the tournament against host UC Irvine. Pepperdine improved to 3-1 with Friday's win, while Idaho slipped to 1-4 on the season after the Vandals lost to UC Irvine, 3-1, earlier Friday.

"It was nice to get one back today with the win," USU head coach Grayson DuBose said. "Pepperdine is a very nice team from a traditionally-tough conference so that was a tough loss, but I was really proud of our team for bouncing back over a really nice Idaho team. It was another one of those classic Utah State-Idaho battles that we've had with them over the years, and we just had to grind it out and then hang on in the end. It was kind of fun."

In the loss to Pepperdine, senior outside hitter Rachel Orr logged her fourth double-double in as many matches this season with 20 kills and matching her jersey number with 17 digs, setting a new season-best for kills and tying a season-high for digs. Fellow senior, middle blocker Kaitlyn VanHoff added 12 kills on a .550 attack percentage (12-1-20), adding six blocks. Freshman middle blocker Hannah Smith made her Aggie debut in smashing fashion with a match-best eight blocks and added five kills on a .364 attack percentage (5-1-11), as USU hit .208 (52-21-149) for the match. The Aggie defense also tied a season-high with 14.0 total team blocks.

Senior setter Paige Neves dished out 40 assists and logged her third double-double of the year with 14 digs. Senior libero Ashlan Rogers-Court collected 15 digs and sophomore defensive specialist Hannah Gleason dug up 11 digs. Neves and VanHoff both served up two aces.

Pepperdine was paced by four players in double-digit kills, led by Gaby Palmeri's 13, followed by Samantha Cash with 12, while Katie Messing and Jillian Bergeson posted 11 and 10, respectively, as the Waves hit .194 (61-28-170) for the match. Becca Strehlow notched 35 assists and Chanel Brown added 19 helpers. Bergeson and Brown both served up a match-best five aces. Strehlow also notched a match-high 18 digs, while Palmeri and Cash logged four blocks.

In the win over Idaho, Orr again matched her jersey number with 17 kills this time, and again logged a double-double by adding 12 digs. VanHoff bashed 12 kills with a .391 attack percentage (12-3-23). Senior outside hitter Jamaica Alisa tied her career-high for the second time in the last four matches with 10 kills, while also matching her career-best with four blocks and logged a new career-high with a .242 attack percentage (10-2-33), helping the Aggies to a season-high .257 attack percentage (52-15-144) for the match.

Neves notched another double-double as well with a match-best 45 assists and 11 digs, while Rogers-Court led USU with 15 digs. Smith and VanHoff logged five blocks apiece, as USU logged 11.0 total team blocks.

"I thought Kaitlyn and Rachel both played really well today and Paige directed a really nice offense," DuBose said. "It was great to see Hannah Smith have a great day. She's worked really hard so it was nice to see all of her hard work rewarded. I think she had a really nice day today."

Idaho was led by 12 kills from Becca Mau, follwoed by 11 kills by Ali Forde and Stephanie Hagins logged 10 kills. Meredith Coba contributed 44 assists, while Terra Varney logged a match-high 21 digs, as well as sharing team-high blocking honors with Alyssa Schultz with four apiece.

In the day's first match, USU got down early, 5-0, in the first set and called a timeout. Out of the break, Aggies rallied by scoring nine of the next 12 points to take a 9-8 lead after VanHoff and Neves teamed up for a block. Pepperdine later took a 19-16 lead only to have Utah State counterattack with four unanswered points, capped by a VanHoff ace and a 20-19 Aggie advantage. Later with the score knotted at 22-all, Brainard factored in the next three points, sandwiching a pair of kills around a tandem block with Smith to seal the opening set at 25-22.

Like the first set, the second stanza opened with an early Pepperdine lead, this time at 5-1. The Waves lead swelled to 15-7 after a Pepperdine block, but USU reeled off a 5-1 spurt, starting on a kill by Kamalu and ended by a block by Neves and VanHoff followed by a Pepperdine bad set to pull the Aggies within 16-12 and the Waves called timeout. Out of the break, USU scored seven of the next 10 points in the set to level it at 19-19 after consecutive kills by Smith, then teamed with Orr for a block. Pepperdine tallied the next three points for a 22-19 advantage and it was USU's turn to call a break, but the Aggies couldn't stop the Waves' surge and Pepperdine took the set by the same score at the first set, 25-22.

The Waves pulled away from a 9-9 tie in the third stanza with a 9-3 streak to take an 18-12 lead. A kill by Orr drew the Aggies within 21-18, but then Pepperdine scored three unanswered for a 24-18 lead. USU fought back to 24-22, as VanHoff and Brainard teamed for a block, then Rodgers-Court served up an ace and Brainard bashed a kill. However, Pepperdine got a kill from Palmeri to keep the 25-22 theme going with the set three win, putting the Waves ahead, two sets to one.

In the fourth frame, USU got out to a 15-10 lead after Smith and Kamalu paired up to post a block. Later VanHoff factored in back-to-back points, teaming with Kamalu for a block then smashing a kill to increase the Aggie advantage to 18-13 and the Waves called a timeout. The break did little to slow VanHoff nor the Aggies, as she cracked another kill, then Kamalu crushed consecutive kills for a 21-13 USU lead. The Aggies took the set after Orr sandwiched two kills around a Pepperdine kill and then a Waves' attacking error clinched the set at 25-18 for USU.

The Aggies got swallowed up by a tidal Waves' attack in the fifth set, as Pepperdine jumped out to a 6-2 lead after kill by Messing, and USU took a timeout. Another Messing kill put Pepperdine on top, 10-2 and the Aggies called their second and final timeout of the set. USU got the gap down to 12-5 but couldn't get any closer as Pepperdine scored the next three points to take the set at 15-5 and the match at three sets to two.

In the nightcap against Idaho, USU trailed early at 10-7, but fought back to take a 14-13 lead after Neves and VanHoff paired up for a block. The Aggie advantage was short-lived as the Vandals went on a 9-2 run to take a 22-16 lead after a Mau kill and Idaho later led, 24-19. USU closed to 24-21 after an ace by Rogers-Court, but couldn't close the gap and dropped the first set, 25-21.

Utah State opened the second stanza with a 12-9 lead after an Alisa kill and a Neves ace and Idaho took a timeout. Another kill by Alisa put the Aggies up 18-13 and they didn't look back. Neves served up two more aces then Smith and Alisa teamed up for a block to seal the set at 25-18 in USU's favor and leveled the match at a set apiece.

Just like in the second set, Utah State got out to an early lead, this time at 12-7 followed a kill by Smith. Idaho got within 16-14, but a VanHoff kill righted the ship of the Aggie momentum and kept the Vandals at bay. The USU lead grew to 21-15 after a Gleason ace and Alisa sealed the set win with a kill at 25-19 to put the Aggies ahead at two sets to one.

USU's start to the fourth frame mirrored its previous two, as Idaho took a timeout down 5-1 after another Alisa kill. The break didn't halt the Aggie streak, as it grew to 13-4 after a pair of Vandal errors, then an Orr block and a VanHoff kill. Idaho inched back to 13-9 and later leveled the match at 20-20, but just like in the third set, VanHoff halted the streak with a kill and Alisa again ended the set with a kill to capture the set at 25-22 and the match at three sets to one.

This weekend is a bit of a reunion for USU, as the Aggies and Vandals were in the Big West Conference together from 1996 to 2004 before departing for the WAC together, where they were league foes from 2005 to 2012, before USU left the WAC in 2013 to join the Mountain West. Idaho left the WAC this past summer to join the Big Sky Conference.

The Aggies return to the court Saturday afternoon at 3 p.m. (MT) to take on the tournament host and another former conference opponent, UC Irvine in the final match of the weekend. USU and UC Irvine were in the Big West Conference together from 1990 to 2004, before USU departed the league to join the WAC.

Fans can follow the Aggies in action on Saturday via "Live Stats" and "Watch Live" link at www.UtahStateAggies.com for USU's final match at the UC Irvine Invitational. Match updates will also be available on twitter @USUVolleyball.

Utah State has three players from the Golden State of California: sophomore defensive specialist Hannah Gleason (Las Flores/Tesoro HS), freshman outside hitter Taylor Barnson (Temecula/Chaparral HS) and sophomore setter Erica Moscoso (Mission Viejo/Capistrano Valley HS).

Utah State remains on the road next weekend, heading across the Pacific Ocean to play in the Hawai'i Outrigger Volleyball Challenge in Honolulu Sept. 11-13, before returning 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.

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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