Utah State 3, New Mexico State 1
Utah State clinched at least a share of its first WAC regular-season title with a 3-1 (25-17, 25-13, 22-25, 25-21) win over New Mexico State Saturday in Las Cruces. With the win, Utah State improves to 19-7 overall and 14-2 in WAC play. NM State falls to18-8 overall and 11-4 in conference matches.
This is the first WAC regular-season title for Utah State, adding to its WAC Tournament title won in 2010. USU's regular-season sweep over NM State was the first since both teams joined the WAC for the 2005 season.
Utah State out-hit New Mexico State .256 to .129. Utah State also had more service aces (5-1) and blocks (15.5-7). NM State had more assists (48-45) and digs (48-40). Both teams had 49 kills.
Josselyn White led Utah State with 13 kills, while Shay Sorensen and Rachel Orr both had 12. Paige Neves had a double-double on the night with 36 assists and 10 digs.
New Mexico State was led Lauren Loerch with 15 kills. Bradley Nash added 11 and Meredith Hays had 10.
UTSA 3, Louisiana Tech 0
UTSA swept the Lady Techsters (25-21, 25-16 and 25-19) Saturday at Thomas Assembly Center. With the victory, the Roadrunners improve to 17-8 overall and 10-5 in the WAC. Louisiana Tech drops to 3-24 on the season and 0-15 in WAC play.
UTSA out-hit Louisiana Tech .260 to .091. The Roadrunners also had more kills (42-30), assists (34-28), digs (51-42) and blocks (8-2).
McKenzie Adams led UTSA with 11 kills, while junior Brandy Huskey handed out 25 assists. Kylie Schott recorded a match-high six blocks, while Annie Kunes tallied a match-high 13 digs.
Maria Coelho passed out 23 assists and Fenix Calderon collected 11 digs to pace the Lady Techsters.
Idaho 3, Seattle U 1
Idaho notched its 10th WAC win of the year Saturday with a 3-1 (25-16, 25-17, 12-25, 25-19) victory over Seattle U in Memorial Gym. With the win, Idaho improves to 12-13 overall and 10-5 in WAC play, while Seattle U drops to 7-18 on the season and 2-13 in the WAC.
The Vandals hit .221 as a team, with 45 kills and 15 errors on 136 attempts. Seattle U hit .168 in the match with 47 kills and 25 errors on 131 attempts. Idaho out-blocked the Redhawks 12.0-4.0, while Seattle U owned a 67-50 advantage in digs.
Allison (Walker) Baker hit a season-high .390 in the match, finishing with 19 kills and notched her WAC-leading 17th double-double of the season by adding 12 digs. Alyssa Schultz had seven kills and matched her career-high with nine total blocks. Janelle Chow had a team-high 18 digs.
Seattle U got 15 kills each from Sarah Jaeckel and Kaytlyn Dill.
Texas State 3, UT Arlington 1
Texas State won its fourth straight match, defeating UT Arlington in four sets (25-14, 22-25, 25-17, 25-21). With the win, the Bobcats improve to 14-12 overall and 9-6 in the WAC, while the Mavericks drop to 8-19 overall and 4-11 in conference play.
Texas State hit .198 on the match, compared to the .078 of UTA. The Bobcats had 58 kills, 53 assists, five aces, 78 digs and 10 blocks, while the Mavericks tallied 40 kills, 37 assists, 63 digs and six blocks.
Ashlee Hilbun posted her third double-double of the season with a match-high 14 kills, a career-high 18 digs and five blocks. Amari Deardorff and Alexandra Simms both added 13 kills. Laura Whalen had 16 digs and Patti Bradshaw finished with 10.
Taylor Gross led UTA with 12 kills, while Shelby Dickson had 17 digs. Amanda Welsh posted a double-double of 29 assists and 12 digs.
Denver 3, San Jose State 0
The Pioneers swept past San Jose State (25-22, 25-18, 25-20) in WAC action Saturday. With the win, Denver improves to 15-11 on the season and 8-7 in the WAC. The Spartans fall to 12-14 on the year and 8-8 in WAC play.
DU out-hit SJSU .286 to .083 on the match. The Pioneers also had more kills (43-32), assists (39-31), digs (45-34) and blocks (12-6). Both teams had four service aces.
Colleen King led all players with 15 kills, while Katie Acker had a match-high 18 digs for Denver.
Mary Alice O'Reilly and Krista Miller had nine kills each to pace the Spartans.