FORT COLLINS, Colo. – No. 4 Utah State volleyball (20-10, 11-7 MW) won its first conference tournament match in a decade after sweeping No. 5 New Mexico (17-12, 8-10 MW) in the opening round of the Mountain West Championships on Wednesday afternoon.
The victory marked USU's first conference tournament win since Utah State defeated UT Arlington 3-1 in the WAC quarterfinals on Nov. 19, 2012.
A trio of Aggie attackers hit over .400 in the match as senior outside hitter Shelby Capllonch had a match-high 18 kills, hitting .424. Junior outside hitter Tatum Stall had 11 kills, hitting .409, while senior middle blocker Kennedi Boyd hit .545 with seven kills.
Sophomore setter Beatriz Rodrigues had a match-high 22 assists, followed by freshman setter Leah Wilton-LaBoy with 20. Five Aggies served an ace in the match, led by Capllonch with three.
Defensively, redshirt sophomore libero Jordi Holdaway led the way with 12 digs, while Boyd and graduate middle blocker Myrthe Maring led the squad with two blocks each.
New Mexico took an early four-point lead in set one, but a 4-0 Utah State run, highlighted by kills from Boyd, Capllonch and senior opposite side hitter Kylee Stokes, tied it at 6-apiece. The Lobos regained the lead until a 3-0 USU spurt tied it at 13-apiece. UNM once again regained its lead and maintained the edge for a 22-19 advantage.
But the set wasn't over yet.
The Aggies closed out set one with a 6-0 run. Capllonch began the run with a kill and followed with a service ace. After a Lobo attacking error, a kill from Stall gave USU its first lead of the set 23-22. Capllonch closed things out with back-to-back aces for the 25-22 win.
After some quick back and forth to open set two, a 5-0 Utah State run gave USU an 8-3 edge. The back and forth then resumed before a 7-2 Aggie run, capped by a Capllonch hammer, gave Utah State a 17-9 advantage. The Aggies later took a 21-11 lead after a Stokes kill, Stokes and Maring block, UNM attacking error and service ace from junior defensive specialist Abby Peterson. The Lobos countered with a 4-1 run, but kills from sophomore opposite Adna Mehmedovic and Stall, along with a New Mexico attacking error, gave the Aggies the 25-15 win.
Utah State broke open set three with a 4-0 lead after back-to-back kills from Mehmedovic and Stall followed by back-to-back Mehmedovic and Maring blocks. The teams traded points until a pair of Stall kills and a Holdaway ace gave USU a 16-8 edge. After the Lobos trimmed the margin to six, a 5-0 Aggie spurt, featuring a Peterson ace and kills from Stokes and Capllonch, extended the lead to 23-12. A Capllonch kill gave USU match point before another hammer from the senior sealed the 25-16 victory and match sweep.
Overall, USU hit .293 (46-17-of-99), while UNM hit .132 (28-14-106).
Utah State next faces top-seeded UNLV (26-3, 17-1 MW) on Thursday, Nov. 24, at 1 p.m., in Fort Collins, Colorado.
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.
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