LOGAN, Utah – Utah State volleyball (8-4, 1-0 MW) defeated Wyoming (11-1, 0-1 MW) in five sets in its Mountain West opener on Thursday.
"It's great to get a win," head coach
Rob Neilson said. "That's a really tough Wyoming team playing with a lot of confidence and doing a nice job in the important parts of the game. They gave us all that we could handle from the service line and did a really nice job in serve receive. When teams do that, they can be really tough to beat."
Four Aggie logged double-digit kills, led by junior opposite side hitter
Adna Mehmedovic with 17, while sophomore opposite
Kaylie Ray had a career-best 12, senior outside hitter
Tatum Stall had 11 and graduate outside
Shelby Capllonch had 10. Stall finished the match with her 20th career double-double after logging 10 digs, while Capllonch had her 41st career double-double with 12.
Junior setter
Beatriz Rodrigues led the Aggies with 27 assists, while sophomore setter
Leah Wilton-LaBoy added 21. Senior middle blocker
Kelsey Watson had a match-high six blocks, while freshman libero
Kambree Rodriguez had a match-best 22 digs.
"It feels really good," Mehmedovic said. "That Wyoming team is really good. They came into conference play 11-0 and we did a really good job of pushing them around and making them uncomfortable. It's a great way to start off conference at home with a win."
After trading points to open the first set, a 5-0 Aggie run that featured kills from Watson and Ray put USU on top 7-3. The teams again went back and forth until a 3-0 Utah State run gave the Aggies a 12-7 edge. USU extended its lead to 21-14 follow three-straight kills from Capllonch and Ray. A Mehmedovic hammer put Utah State at set point before a Cowgirl attack error gave USU the 25-18 win.
After back-to-back Stall and Ray kills gave the Aggies the 17-15 lead in set two, a 7-2 Wyoming run put the Cowgirls ahead 22-19. Wyoming maintained the edge to win 25-23.
Utah State broke open the third set with a big 6-0 run that was capped by a pair of Stall kills. The Cowgirls trimmed the deficit to 9-7 before a 5-1 Aggie run, this time capped by a Ray hammer, gave USU a 14-8 advantage. Three-straight kills from Mehmedovic, Capllonch and Stall would later extend the lead to 23-12 before a Stall hammer and Watson block clinched the 25-15 victory.
USU led 6-2 early in set four, but Wyoming fought back to tie it at 11-apiece. The set continued to go back and forth until a Mehmedovic hammer gave USU match point 24-23. However, the Cowgirls weren't done yet, closing out the set with a 5-2 run for the 28-26 win.
After Wyoming scored the first two points of the final set, a 5-0 Aggie run, highlighted by a Capllonch service ace, gave Utah State a 5-2 lead. The teams stayed close until USU closed out the set with a huge 7-0 run for the 15-6 victory. A Ray kill gave the Aggies match point and a block by Watson and Capllonch secured the victory.
Overall, USU hit .277 (60-21-141), while Wyoming hit .163 (59-33-160).
Utah State next hosts Colorado State (6-6, 0-1 MW) on Saturday, Sept. 23, at noon.
Season 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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