Utah State women's volleyball was held to a season-low 24 kills on the road Saturday night as the Aggies dropped a 25-15, 25-20, 25-18 decision at San Diego State. The loss drops USU to 12-16 on the year and 8-9 in the Mountain West, while SDSU moves to 14-14 overall and 9-8 in conference play.
The teams played through a pair of lead changes and three ties early in the first set when San Diego State broke a 3-3 deadlock with an 11-1 run to take a 14-4 advantage leading to a Utah State timeout. Sophomore outside Kaylie Kamalu recorded a kill out of the break to stop the run and start a 6-2 USU push that put the Aggies within six, 16-10, and forced an SDSU timeout. A block by senior middle Kaitlyn VanHoff following the timeout trimmed the lead to five, 16-11, but it was as close as the Aggies came with the Aztecs closing out the set with a 9-4 run for the 25-15 victory.
Utah State answered a beginning point by SDSU in the second with a VanHoff kill and block, as she was joined by senior outside Rachel Orr, to take a 2-1 lead. The advantage remained with the Aggies throughout most of the set until a 5-1 SDSU run overcame a 15-13 USU lead and turned it into an 18-16 lead for the home side. Utah State came back to tie the frame at 19-19 on a kill by Orr, but San Diego State closed out the set on another run, this time 6-1, to take a 2-0 lead with the 25-20 victory.
Freshman outside Rachel Gale scored the first point of the third set, but it was answered by a four-point run by the Aztecs, giving SDSU the 4-1 lead. Utah State whittled the margin down to one at 9-8 on another Gale kill, but it was as close as the Aggies came in the stanza. San Diego State punctuated the win with three straight kills at the end of the frame to take the match, 25-18.
Utah State was led offensively by Orr with six kills, hitting .174 (6-2-23). The match was only the second of the season in which the Aggies were held without a single player logging double-digit kills. Orr also tied for the team lead with eight digs, matching sophomore libero Hannah Gleason, also with eight.
San Diego State was led by freshman outside Alexis Cage with 14 kills and senior opposite Chaiymin Steel with 13. The duo combined to commit only three errors, hitting .522 (14-2-23) and .545 (13-1-22), respectively. SDSU hit .388 (51-13-98) as a team, including a .500 clip (19-3-32) during the third set. Utah State finished the match hitting .169 (24-11-77).
Utah State closes out its 2014 season Tuesday night when the Aggies host Boise State at 7 p.m., on Kirby Court at the Wayne Estes Center. The night will also be Senior Night with USU honoring its 2014 senior class prior to the match.
Kyle Cottam is the Assistant Athletic Director for Media Relations at Utah State University.