LOGAN, Utah (September 1, 2009) – Winning two sets wasn’t enough for BYU to pull out a win at Utah State, falling to the Aggies in five at the Smith Spectrum. The Cougars fall to 2-2 on the season while the Aggies improve their record to 2-2.
“Utah State was ready to play and ran a nice offense in front of a great crowd,” said BYU head coach Shay Goulding. “There were moments when we played with a lot of passion, but it just wasn’t enough for the win. We started slow and it was just too little too late, but we had some great efforts tonight.”
Despite the loss, senior rightside hitter, Kayla Walker, posted a season-high 25 kills and nine digs. She hit at .288 percent, improving the team hitting percentage to .230.
Christina Measom added 13 kills hitting at an impressive .440, also putting up three blocks. Christie Carpenter tallied 11 kills at .194 with two assists, one dig and two blocks. Nicole Warner also filled up the stat sheet, leading the team with five blocks, two service aces and also adding six kills on the night.
Senior setter Kiana Rogers had 54 of 58 assists in the match, also adding three kills and eight digs. Morgan Lloyd Sorensen topped the dig list with 11, also making one service ace.
Casey Speredon Thurston added six kills, Chelsea Goodsell posted nine digs and Melissa Lake Wright had two digs.
The Aggies were led by Liz McArthur who had 19 kills on .262 hitting with nine digs while Christine Morrill added 18 digs to help Utah State take the lead.
Although the Cougars came out with a 2-0 lead in the first set, they were quickly found trying to play catch-up for the remainder of the match until the Aggies took the first set 18-25.
Set two started out slow for the Cougars, but a block from Measom and Carpenter knotted the set at 17. Followed by kills from Measom, the Cougars found themselves with a three-point lead at 20-17, the largest lead of the night. With good passing from Sorensen and two kills from Carpenter, BYU put away the second set 25-21.
In the third the Cougars struggled to score as libero Morrill seemed to pick up each BYU hit, with the Aggies winning 15-25.
BYU came back in the fourth to win the set through hitting .255 compared to Utah State’s .239. Although Utah State had more digs and more assists, BYU came out to knot the sets at 2-2.
Eight BYU kills to Utah State’s seven weren’t enough to win the match as Utah State hit at .417 while BYU posted a .312 hitting percentage. Three service errors in just 15 points were fatal to the Cougars racking up another win early in the season. They fell to the Aggies in the fifth set 11-15.
“I still have high hopes for the rest of our season,” said Goulding. “We just need to work out the rough spots and we will be where we want to be.”
The Cougars look forward to hosting the BYU Nike Classic Friday and Saturday in the Smith Fieldhouse where they will welcome Kansas State, Weber State and Cal Poly in a six-match tournament. BYU will hold its first game Friday at 7 p.m. against Cal Poly. Check back for updates on www.byucougars.com/
