SAN JOSE, Calif. – Utah State volleyball (14-5, 7-1 Mountain West) extended its win streak to four with a 3-0 road sweep at San José State (11-10, 2-6 MW) on Saturday.
The Aggies were led by outside hitter
Tatum Stall with 11 kills as the senior eclipsed 1,000 career kills in the match. Sophomore setter
Leah Wilton-LaBoy led the Aggies with 14 assists, while junior setter
Beatriz Rodrigues eyed a double-double with nine assists and a match-best 11 digs.
Freshman libero
Kambree Rodriguez also finished with double-figure digs with 10, while both graduate senior middle blocker
Kennedi Boyd and junior opposite side hitter
Adna Mehmedovic led USU with six blocks apiece.
Utah State was hot out the gate, opening set one with a 4-0 lead following a Mehmedovic and Boyd block, Stall kill, service ace from graduate senior outside
Shelby Capllonch and a Mehmedovic hammer. The teams then traded runs before an SJSU kill trimmed USU's lead to 19-17. The Aggies responded with five-straight points, featuring kills from senior middle blocker
Kelsey Watson and Capllonch, a pair of Rodriguez service aces, and a block by Boyd and graduate senior opposite
Jill Schneggenburger, for the 24-17 advantage. The Spartans scored once more before an attack error gave USU the 25-18 victory.
The Aggies once again had a hot start in set two as back-to-back Stall kills gave Utah State the 5-2 edge. San José State came back to lead 7-6. After trading points, a 4-0 USU spurt, bookended by a Capllonch kill and ace, put Utah State on top 14-10. A pair of Stall kills, along with a Rodrigues ace, later extended the margin to 19-12. SJSU trimmed the lead to two twice more, but USU scored four of the last five points of the set for the 25-20 win.
The Spartans scored the first three points of the third set, but the Aggies responded with a 6-0 run, highlighted by a Capllonch ace, Stall kill and blocks from Mehmedovic and Boyd, for the 6-3 edge. After some back and forth, San José State tied it at 10-apiece and later 14-each. A couple more kills from Stall, along with a Watson and Schneggenburger block, then gave USU the 18-15 advantage. The Spartans trimmed the margin to 19-18, but a 6-1 Aggie run to close the match secured the 25-19 victory and match sweep. Back-to-back kills from Schneggenburger and Capllonch started the run, while kills from Capllonch and Boyd, an SJSU attack error and Wilton-LaBoy ace closed it out.
Overall, USU hit .232 (35-12-99), while SJSU hit .052 (27-22-97).
Utah State wraps up a three-match road trip at UNLV (12-8, 4-4 MW) on Thursday, Oct. 19, at 7:30 p.m. (MT).
Tickets for the 2023 Utah State volleyball season are on sale now.
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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