Nov. 20, 2008

Final Stats

HONOLULU, Hawaii - For the second year in a row, Utah State's women's volleyball was upset by San Jose State in the Western Athletic Conference Tournament as the fifth-seeded Spartans notched a five-set win (16-25, 25-23, 25-16, 17-25, 15-8) against fourth-seeded Utah State in the quarterfinals of the 2008 Tournament here Thursday afternoon.

Utah State, who has now lost in the first round of the WAC Tournament in each of the last three seasons, concludes the year with an 11-17 record. Two of those 11 wins were against San Jose State as the Aggies swept the season series.

Senior outside hitter Melissa Osterloh recorded a match-high 20 kills for Utah State, to go along with 10 digs as she posted her seventh double-double of the season. Freshman opposite side hitter Emily Kortsen added eight kills for USU, while senior outside hitter Kris Hymas had seven kills and 12 digs.

Colleen Burke had 19 kills and hit a robust .643 (19-1-28) to pace San Jose State, while Kelly Crow added 17 kills and 11 digs.

Utah State dominated the first set as it hit .258 (13-5-31) and limited San Jose State to a .034 (8-7-29) hitting percentage. Osterloh and sophomore setter Chelsea Fowles each had three kills for the Aggies in the opening set.

San Jose State rebounded with wins in the next two sets as it hit .317 (18-5-41) in set two and .270 (14-4-37) in set three. USU hit .220 (13-4-41) in the second set as it lost by just two points, but hit a negative .027 (7-8-37) in the third set as it lost by nine points.

Utah State broke open a close fourth set with a 6-0 run midway through as it notched the eight-point win. In the fourth set, USU hit .280 (12-5-25) as compared to a .200 (12-5-35) hitting percentage for SJSU.

San Jose State jumped out to a quick 6-2 lead in the fifth set before Utah State scored three straight points to get within one at 6-5. However, the Spartans closed the match on a 6-1 run to record the five-set win.

Utah State finished the match by hitting .169 (50-25-148) and San Jose State hit .247 (61-22-158). USU also had two more digs (62-60) and two more team blocks (8-6) in the match, along with 14 fewer service errors (18-4).