Volleyball Defeats Idaho State In Four Games

Volleyball Defeats Idaho State In Four Games

Utah State improves to 4-0 on the season

Photo by Matt Brahana

Sophomore opposite side hitter Zuzana Cernianska(Prague, Czech Republic) recorded a match-high 19 kills to go along with seven digs as Utah State improved to 4-0 on the season with a three-game win (30-22, 30-27, 30-27) over Idaho State Sept. 3 at the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum.

"Idaho State is a much better team than they were picked to be and this is a good win for us," said third-year head coach Burt Fuller. "We played a little young tonight but we are learning and our young kids will learn a lot faster on the court than they will on the bench."

Utah State opened the match by hitting .205 and limiting Idaho State to a .073 hitting percentage in notching the eight-point win. Game two was much closer as both teams hit over .200, but the Aggies had six more kills in the match en route to the 30-27 win. In game three, the Bengals took the early lead and had a 25-20 advantage before USU scored 10 of the final 12 points to win the match.

Along with Cernianska's 19 kills, freshman outside hitter Beth Hodge (Broken Arrow, Okla.) added 14 kills and 10 digs, while senior middle blocker Erin Cartwright-Davis (Hyrum, Utah) recorded 13 kills, nine digs and four blocks. Senior libero Taubi Neves (Otto, Wyo.) led the Aggies on defense with 13 digs.

As a team, Utah State hit .213 in the match and held Idaho State to a .153 hitting percentage. Overall, USU recorded 58 kills and 57 digs in the match as compared to 36 kills and 37 digs for ISU.

Utah State will return to action this weekend at the Montana State-Mizuno/Holiday Inn Classic in Bozeman against Alabama, Montana State and #14 Kansas State. (See all stats)