Utah State 3, Louisiana Tech 2
RUSTON, La. - Junior outside hitter Liz McArthur had 16 kills to lead Utah State to a hard-fought five-set win (18-25, 25-20, 25-16,, 22-25, 15-9) here against Louisiana Tech Monday to give the Aggies its 10th 20-win season in school history and its first since 2005.
Utah State improves to 20-8 overall and 8-7 in WAC play with the win, while Louisiana Tech falls to 12-20 on the season and 1-14 in league play with the loss. Overall, USU has now won five of its last six matches and is tied for third-place with Idaho in the league standings.
McArthur (St. George, Utah) added six digs and three block assists in the match for Utah State, while sophomore opposite side hitter Shay Sorensen (North Ogden, Utah) had 12 kills and five block assists. Sophomore outside hitter Josselyn White (Smithfield, Utah) added nine kills, nine digs and five block assists and hit .364 (9-1-22) in the match, while senior libero Christine Morrill (Neola, Utah) posted a match-high 27 digs.
Kara Jones recorded 13 kills and Taylor Fritz had 11 to lead Louisiana Tech.
Louisiana Tech scored the first five points of the match and never trailed as it posted the seven-point win in the first set. LTU hit .154 (13-7-39) in the opening set and USU hit .051 (8-6-39).
Utah State built an early 6-3 lead in set two and led by as many as five at 19-14 en route to its 25-20 win as McArthur had five kills for the visitors. The Aggies hit .250 (12-5-28) in the second set and the Lady Techsters hit .081 (13-10-37).
Utah State dominated the third set as it led by as many as 11 at 23-12 before posting the nine-point win behind five more kills from McArthur. USU hit .294 (12-2-34) in the third set and LTU hit .122 (14-9-41).
Louisiana Tech used an 8-0 run in the fourth set to turn a 6-4 deficit into a 12-6 advantage as it evened the match at two sets apiece with the three-point win. The Lady Techsters hit .256 (.14-4-39) here and the Aggies hit .133 (13-7-45).
In the fifth and final set, Utah State broke a 3-3 tie with four unanswered points and never trailed in posting the 15-9 win as McArthur and White each notched three kills for the Aggies. USU hit .318 (10-3-22) in the final set and LTU hit .045 (5-4-22).
Utah State finished the match with a .190 (55-23-168) hitting percentage and Louisiana Tech hit .140 (59-34-178). LTU had eight more digs (77-69) and both teams finished with 13.5 team blocks, four service aces and seven service errors.
Fresno State 3, Idaho 1
FRESNO, Calif. - After losing control of their own destiny, the Fresno State volleyball team suffered a heart-breaking realization that the Bulldogs will not qualify for the 2010 Western Athletic Conference Tournament despite the Dogs' fearless 3-1 road comeback victory at Idaho on Monday night and sophomore Marissa Brand's 12th double-double of the season.
"We just hit our stride, but too late," third-year head coach Lauren Netherby-Sewell said. "It's disappointing to not have a shot in the tournament seeing how handily we took care of the number three team in the conference. But we'll go out winning."
The gritty effort in Moscow came as the Vandals took the opening set 25-17, yet Fresno State regrouped to win the next three straight sets (25-21, 25-18 & 25-20) and grabbed their sixth win against a WAC opponent this season.
Brand paced the Dogs with 16 kills and 15 digs. Sophomore Kelli Parker and junior Brianna Clarke both reached double figures in kills with 15 and 12, respectively. Senior Kelly Mason, a walk-on team captain, also chipped away for 15 digs herself.
"I was really proud of our performance tonight," Netherby-Sewell added. "We played steadily. All of our hitters gave something positive. Our serving and passing game was consistent. I tip my hat to our Bulldogs on a great win."
The Bulldogs' hopes to advance to the conference tournament ended when Boise State finished their regular season action with a 3-1 win against San Jose State to clinch the final berth in the 2010 WAC Tournament.
With one of the WAC's best outside hitters in Brand, the middle blocking power of Clarke and one of the hardest-working liberos in Mason, Fresno State will finish seventh in the final WAC regular season standings and well short of their high expectations back in August when the WAC head coaches predicted a third-place finish following an appearance in last year's conference tournament semifinals.
Fresno State (12-15, 6-9 WAC) returns home to the Save Mart Center for a special senior celebration on Thursday night when four Dogs play their final match in a Bulldog uniform. The match starts at 7 p.m.
Boise State 3, San Jose State 1
BOISE, Idaho - The Boise State volleyball team punched their ticket to the 2010 Western Athletic Conference volleyball tournament on Monday (Nov. 15) night picking up a 3-1 (25-23, 15-25, 25-18, 25-22) win over San Jose State. The Broncos (21-11, 8-8 WAC) battled a tough, quick Spartan (8-21, 3-12 WAC) team to pick up their eighth WAC win of the season.
The night began with a ceremony honoring seniors Lauren Hamm, Sadie Maughan and Alisha Young, three Broncos who stepped it up in their final home match. Young led the match with 17 kills and an outstanding .485 hitting percentage, while also leading the team with two blocks and adding one ace. Hamm had an excellent night as well, racking up 16 digs and two aces on the night while Maughan added eight kills and one block in the win.
Young made her way into the Bronco record books as well, moving into the No. 10 spot in career kills with 1,035 (No. 9 is 1,039 held by Melissa Dahl, 1991-94). She also jumped all the way to No. 6 on the all-time season kills chart with her 17 kills, now holding 394 this season (No. 5 is 400 held by Julie Kaulius, 1997).
Freshman Casey Rose stepped into the match midway through the second set, proving an immediate impact. Rose tallied a match-high three aces and led the team with 25 assists and a perfect 1.000 hitting percentages with six kills on six attempts. Junior Breann Nesselhuf added 18 assists, one ace and one block, as well. Junior Amanda Remy led the team with 17 digs, while Kersti Whitney added 15. Fiona Jones racked up nine kills, seven digs and one ace, while Cailin Fellows added eight kills on the night.
The Spartans were able to keep the Broncos on their toes with a quick-paced offense. Kylie Miraldi and Taylor Japhet led that offense with nine kills apiece, while Krista Miller had a team-high of .444 hitting percentage. Alex Akana led the match in blocks with four while Courtney Zellmer led the backcourt defense with a match-high 18 digs. Katie Turner recorded a team-high of two aces, while Caitlin Andrade added 44 assists in the match.
With the win the Broncos improve to seven wins all-time against the Spartans. San Jose State still holds the series lead at 15-7 over Boise State.