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LOGAN, Utah - Utah State volleyball looked like it might repeat its performance on the road against San José State in the return match to Logan for the Spartans on Thursday night, but ultimately lost the match in four sets, 22-25, 21-25, 25-21, 20-25. The Aggies also lost the first two sets in San Jose, but battled back to win on the road in five, but with the loss at home dropped to 4-18 on the year and 2-9 in league play, while SJSU moved to 10-10 and 5-6.
Sophomore Bailey Downing, who moved to the outside for the match because of an illness to usual starter Gabbi Shumway, led the Aggies with 14 kills, and was followed by freshman outside Whitney Solosabal with 10. Senior setter Kassidy Johnson recorded her 11th double-double of the season with 31 assists and 16 digs. Senior libero Tasia Taylor led the Aggies with 21 digs, her eighth 20-plus dig outing of the year, followed by sophomore defensive specialist Madi Olson-Shepherd and redshirt junior outside Ally Packard each with 11. Freshman middle Corinne Larsen led the Aggies behind the service line with a career-high three service aces, while also tying for the team lead in blocks with five, matching Downing.
Utah State had an 8-6 lead in the opening set, following a block by Downing and Larsen, but San José State came back with a six-point run to capture a 12-8 advantage. The Spartans never trailed again, despite a late charge by the Aggies that pulled Utah State to within one, 23-22, following a block by Solosabal and senior middle Lauren O'Brien. However, SJSU scored back-to-back points to take the set 25-22.
Utah State bounced back in the second set, opening the frame with a 10-4 run that led to a San José State timeout. The Aggies had a similar six-point advantage at 14-8 when the Spartans called their second timeout of the set. SJSU then began to chip away and came back to tie the set at 17-17, but USU countered with three straight to take a 20-17 lead, following a kill by Downing. San José State answered with an 8-1 run down the stretch to take the set, 25-21.
The teams played through nine ties and three lead changes in the third set as Utah State hit a match-best .333 with 13 kills on 33 attempts with only two errors. The Aggies used a seven-point run in the middle of the frame to overcome a 13-10 deficit and turn it into a 17-13 lead, following a block by Downing and Larsen. Another Utah State block closed out the set for the Aggies, 25-21, as freshman middle Preslee Jensen and junior right side Izzie Hinton-Belnap combined for the set-clinching point.
San José State came out in the fourth set and built a 4-1 lead before the Aggies battled back to tie the frame, 5-5. Solosabal recorded a kill for Utah State during the next rally to give the home side its first lead of the set, 6-5. However, San José State countered with four-straight points to take a 9-6 lead and later used an 8-0 run to create a nine-point advantage with the 22-13 lead. A kill by Hinton-Belnap ended the run, and the Aggies then fought off three-straight match points before losing the match, 25-20.
San José State was led on the attack by freshman middle Haylee Nelson and junior outside Caitlin Bettenay with 12 kills apiece, while senior libero Luiza Andrade led the SJSU back row with 19 digs. Bettenay finished the match with a double-double after finishing just behind Andrade with 18 digs. Overall, the Spartans hit .214 (62-28-159) to the Aggies' .162 (45-21-148).
Utah State will be back in action on Saturday night, hosting Nevada at 7:30 p.m. Fans can purchase a $1 ticket for the match by showing their ticket from the Utah State-New Mexico football that is set to kick at 2 p.m.
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.
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