Volleyball Defeats Weber State In Five Games

Erin Cartwright (Hyrum, Utah) recorded her second straight double-double with 22 kills and 11 digs to lead Utah State to a five-game win over Weber State Tuesday by final scores of 37-35, 26-30, 30-23, 20-30, 15-9. With the win, USU improves to 13-13 on the season while WSU falls to 17-11 with the loss.

"We beat a really good team tonight who has been playing very well at home," said USU head coach Burt Fuller. "Winning game one gave us a lot of confidence in the match and hopefully we can carry that momentum into our final two home matches this weekend."

In game one, Weber State scored the first four points of the match and extended its lead to six points on two separate occasions before Utah State finally tied the game at 18 on back-to-back service aces from Cartwright. From that point on, there were 15 ties and 13 lead changes before the Aggies finally put the Wildcats away with a 37-35 game one win.

The Wildcats opened another big lead in the second game and held a 7-2 advantage only to see USU fight back once again and tie the game at 19. WSU then scored five of the next six points to take a four-point lead that would eventually be the difference in the game.

In game three with the score tied at 11, USU rattled off four straight points and never looked back in notching the seven-point win. USU hit .281 in the game behind eight kills from Cartwright and held WSU to a -.028 hitting percentage.

In game four, Weber State trailed 11-9 before going on a 11-1 run en route to the 10-point win. Utah State -.023 in the match, while WSU hit .345. In the fifth and final game, Utah State scored seven of the final 10 points to break open a close game and record the win.

Utah State had four players notch double-digit kills on the night led by Cartwright's 22. Freshman Zuzana Cernianska (Prague, Czech Republic) recorded 17 kills, while fellow freshman Ingrid Roth (Barrington, Ill.) posted a career-high 15 kills to go along with eight blocks. Junior Tereza Cernianska (Prague, Czech Republic) added 12 kills. Junior Taubi Neves led USU defensively with 15 digs.

As a team, Utah State hit .177 overall, while Weber State hit .232. The Aggies outblocked the Wildcats by two (13-11) and recorded four more kills in the match (76-72).

Utah State will return to Big West action this weekend as they host Cal State Northridge on Thur., Nov. 14 and Pacific on Sat., Nov. 16 at 7 p.m. in the Dee Glen Smith Specturm in the final two home matches of the season.