LOGAN, Utah – Utah State volleyball (11-5, 3-2 Mountain West) bounced right back into the win column on Thursday night with a 3-0 sweep against San Diego State (4-12, 2-3 MW).
"It's fun to win one in three and fun to get back here in the Estes in front of the fans," head coach
Rob Neilson said. "They were awesome for us and we love those guys. It's such an energy booster for us.
"Tonight was about finding some offensive flow. It was really great to see our opposites get going and have a really successful night."
The Aggies hit a season-best .354 (40-11-82), while holding the Aztecs to a .080 (29-22-87) mark. Senior opposite side hitter
Kylee Stokes led USU after hitting .500 (7-1-12), while junior outside hitter
Tatum Stall had a team-best 12 kills to finish the match hitting .409. Graduate opposite
Emilee Turner logged six kills, hitting .400.
Both Utah State setters finished with double-digit assists as freshman
Leah Wilton-LaBoy had 15 and sophomore
Beatriz Rodrigues had 12. Defensively, redshirt sophomore libero
Jordi Holdaway had a match-best nine digs, while Stokes and senior middle blocker
Kennedi Boyd had a match-high-tying five blocks.
"It felt really good," Stokes said. "Offensively, we're finally finding our flow which has been on and off for us this season. We are starting to focus on all the little things we've been working really hard on in practice. It really showed out there tonight."
An early 4-0 Aggie run in set one gave USU the 6-2 lead. The Aztecs fought back to tie it at 8-8 and the set continued to stay tight until a 5-0 Utah State spurt put the Aggies on top 17-12. A kill from redshirt freshman middle blocker
Bella Wooden followed by Wooden and Turner block would later give USU the 23-17 edge. A Turner kill put USU at set point and a SDSU serving error secured the 25-19 Utah State victory.
Utah State went on to lead for the entirety of the second and third sets.
Back-to-back Stall and Turner kills, followed by an SDSU error and service ace from senior outside
Shelby Capllonch gave USU the 4-0 lead in set two. After the Aztecs trimmed the margin to one, another SDSU error, Capllonch and Stokes kills, and a Stall service ace extended the Aggie lead to 11-5. Utah State continued to expand the margin as a Stall and Wooden block put USU on top 18-10. San Diego State cut the lead to 20-15 before kills from Stall and Capllonch, along with a Stokes and Boyd block, gave USU the 23-15 edge. A Stokes kill put Utah State at set point and a Stokes and Wooden block clinched the 25-17 win.
The Aggies came out hot to take a 10-2 lead in set three. Back-to-back Stall kills and a Capllonch ace later gave Utah State the double-digit lead at 16-5. After SDSU scored back-to-back points, a 6-0 USU run put the Aggies ahead 22-7. A Stall kill gave USU set point before a Boyd hammer secured the 25-10 win and match sweep.
Utah State continues its homestand on Saturday, Oct. 8, as the Aggies host Fresno State (6-11, 0-5 MW) at 11 a.m.
Fans can follow the Aggie volleyball program on Twitter, @USUVolleyball, on Facebook at /USUVolleyball or on Instagram, @usuvolleyball. Aggie fans can also follow the Utah State athletic program on Twitter, @USUAthletics, Facebook at /USUAthletics and on Instagram, @USUAthletics.
-USU-
