Sept. 1, 2007

Final Stats

BOZEMAN, Mont. - Utah State's volleyball team concluded play at the 2007 Holiday Inn Classic Saturday night with a three-game loss (30-26, 30-23, 30-23) to Washington State to finish in third-place in the tournament. With the loss, USU is now 2-4 on the season while WSU improved to 7-1 with the win.

Senior opposite side hitter Amanda Nielson (West Valley City, Utah) paced Utah State with 18 kills and seven digs, while hitting .271 (18-5-48) in the match. Washington State was led by Jackie Albright who had 12 kills and six digs.

Both teams played very similar in the opening game as Washington State hit .237 (15-6-38) and Utah State hit .189 (14-7-37). Unfortunately for USU, that did not continue in the final two games as the Aggies recorded 11 hitting errors in game two and 12 more in game three, while the Cougars combined to committee 11 errors in the final two games to record the sweep.

Overall, Utah State hit .074 (39-30-121) in the match as compared to a .225 (42-17-111) hitting percentage for Washington State. The Cougars also dominated at the net with six more team blocks (12.5-6.5) and also recorded two more service aces.

Utah State will return to action next weekend as it competes in the Golden Bear Invitational in Berkeley, Calif. USU will open the tournament on Friday, Sept. 7 against 11th ranked California at 8 p.m. (MT), followed by matches against ninth-ranked Minnesota and Eastern Kentucky on Saturday, Sept. 8.

Washington State 3, Utah State 0
USU    26    23    23
WSU    30    30    30