Box Score

DENVER, Colo. - Utah State women's volleyball hit a season-high .308 (43-11-104) on Friday afternoon en route to a three-set sweep over Montana State, 25-15, 25-16, 25-19, in the opening match of the Pioneer Invitational at the University of Denver. The victory moved the Aggies to 1-3 on the year, while the Bobcats dropped to 2-2.

Junior outside Lauren Anderson led the Aggies with 17 kills, just one shy of her career high, and hit a career-best .412 with only three errors on 34 attempts. She was followed by junior right side Kayla DeCoursey with 10 kills, hitting .364 (10-2-22). Sophomore middle Lauren O'Brien joined Anderson in hitting over .400, finishing the match with a .444 hitting percentage with four kills on nine attempts without an error.

The offensive production gave the Aggies a strong start in both of the first and second sets, including a 6-1 lead for the Aggies in the opening frame after scoring the first three. Utah State also kept the Bobcats out of sync, breaking Montana State's serve all but once during the set en route to the 25-15 win.

The Aggies opened the second set with back-to-back points and never trailed. Utah State hit a match-high .417 during the set, recording 13 kills on 24 attempts with only three errors. The performance resulted in a 25-16 victory for USU, giving the Aggies a 2-0 lead.

The third set was much closer, as the teams fought through 11 ties and five lead changes. The score was knotted at 16-16 when senior middle Carly Lenzen book ended two of her career-high three service aces around a pair of Anderson kills to give the Aggies a 20-16 lead. O'Brien started a second four-point run by the Aggies with the score at 21-19 with a kill, giving Utah State the final push for the 25-19 victory.

Defensively, sophomore defensive specialist Tasia Taylor recorded her first double-digit outing of the year with 10 digs, with the Aggies finishing with 50 to Montana State's 43, the fourth straight match that USU has recorded more digs than its opponents. Lenzen and DeCoursey paced the Utah State block with four blocks apiece, matching a career high for DeCoursey.

Montana State finished the match hitting .144 (32-17-104), led by Natalie Passeck with nine kills.

Utah State will play two matches tomorrow, facing Loyola Marymount at 10 a.m. (MT) and then Denver at 7:30 p.m. (MT). The match against Denver can be seen live on Altitude (Comcast - Ch. 61, DirecTV - Ch. 681, Dish - Ch. 413), with live stats for both matches available online at utahstateaggies.com.

Fans can 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-