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Show Friday, Oct. 23, 2009 StatesmanSports Page 11 Kortsen: Soph continues to impress -continued from page 9 any blocking errors. Kortsen was named to the WAC AllFreshman team last season but by no means are awards new for her. In high school, she was named Most Valuable Player of the Tri-County League her sophomore, junior and senior year. In the 2006-07 season, her junior year, she shared the MVP honors with then high school and current Utah State teammate Chelsea Fowles. That same year she was also recognized nationally as a high school All American and was widely known as one of the best junior volleyball players in the country. Later that year she was chosen to the National Junior Olympics All-Tournament team in the 18-year-old division – she was only 16 at the time. The fourth of five children, Kortsen has been a student of her sport for a long time, observing all three of older sisters play in high school. She joined her first club team in seventh grade and has been playing ever since. “I enjoy volleyball because it’s a really big teamwork sport,” Kortsen said in a 2007 interview with The Hollister Newspaper. “When the team connects well, it shows. It’s not an individual sport, an individual can’t make a difference. It’s got to come together as a team.” This season the Aggies have shown just that. With Kortsen’s help the team has already won more games than all of last season and with eight more guaranteed matches it has a chance to well surpass that mark. So, don’t look at those long legs and assume she’s just another beach blonde from California, she’s quick and can hit a kill shot with tremendous speed and pinpoint accuracy. – c.h.j@aggiemail.usu.edu Tune-up: Ags trying to reach playoffs -continued from page 10 night. Midway through the second half, Utah State was looking to extend its lead and put the game away. The Aggies’ Billy Harlow drove the ball down near the goal and eventually found a cutting Fonseca who added another score to his total on the night. “Once we got that last goal I knew that we had it in the bag,” Fonseca said, “but we couldn’t let up because that’s what happened to us at the beginning of the game.” Gaining some momentum with that win, the Aggies will go into their game against Utah Saturday at 11 a.m. The game will be played at the HPER field. “At the beginning of the season we had problems with finishing our shots,” Firmage said, “but we have been finishing very well in our last few games which gives us confidence going into the playoffs.” – steve.clark@aggiemail.usu.edu USU’s trey leonard battles with a SLCC player during the Aggies match with the Bruins Thursday. The game was the Ags final tune-up before they play rival Utah. pete P. smithsuth photo Los angeles angels’ John Lackey tips his hat after being taken out of the game during the seventh inning of Game 5 of the American League Championship Series Thursday night. AP photo Angels stay alive in ALCS ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) – Just when all looked lost, the Los Angeles Angels took a cue from an old friend. With their Rally Monkey doing his best work in years, the Angels sent the AL championship series back to New York. Kendry Morales drove in the go-ahead run with a two-out single in the seventh inning, and the Angels responded to the Yankees’ six-run comeback moments earlier for a 7-6 win Thursday night that trimmed New York’s lead in the ALCS to 3-2. Vladimir Guerrero’s single tied it in the seventh for the Angels, who somehow didn’t surrender after blowing a 4-0 lead moments earlier. New York struck immediately after manager Mike Scioscia removed ace John Lackey, with Robinson Cano capping the rally with a two-run triple. The Game 5 theatrics continued right up to the final pitch, when Angels closer Brian Fuentes retired Nick Swisher on a full-count popup with the bases loaded. “Everybody thought we were down,” Angels outfielder Torii Hunter said. Game 6 is Saturday night at Yankee Stadium, with Andy Pettitte facing Los Angeles’ Joe Saunders. Also in the forecast: a huge rainstorm. When Cano put New York up 6-4, everything in somber Angel Stadium pointed to a clinching victory and a 40th AL pennant for the Yankees. Instead, the Angels showed off the knack for late-game comebacks they’ve possessed ever since their run to their only championship in 2002, when the beloved Rally Monkey began appearing in the late innings on their scoreboard and in plush form in the stands. Although two games in the Bronx – and shutdown starter CC Sabathia – still stand in the Angels’ way, the collapse raised the slightest echoes of what happened to the Yankees’ last big lead in an ALCS. The Red Sox famously rallied from an 0-3 deficit in 2004, making a late rally to win Game 4 before finishing off the biggest comeback in baseball history in seven games. Only six teams have rallied from a 3-1 deficit to win a league championship series – most recently in 2007, when the Boston Red Sox came back against Sabathia and Cleveland on the way to a title. Including the World Series, 11 of 70 teams that fell into a 3-1 hole have made the comeback. Lackey cruised through the first six innings after Los Angeles scored four in the first, and the ace reacted with audible disappointment when Scioscia pulled him. Reliever Darren Oliver yielded a three-run double to Mark Teixeira on his first pitch, and Hideki Matsui added a tying single. But the Angels added another comeback to a season full of them. Jeff Mathis and Erick Aybar reached base to chase A.J. Burnett, the big-money free agent who’s still winless in three postseason starts. After Mathis scored on Bobby Abreu’s RBI groundout, Guerrero tied it against reliever Phil Hughes – and Morales put the Angels ahead with the latest clutch hit of his breakout season. Jeff Weaver, who started Game 3 for the Angels, pitched a hitless eighth before Fuentes barely escaped the ninth. After two quick outs, he walked Alex Rodriguez with nobody on base before walking Hideki Matsui and hitting Cano with a pitch to load the bases for the slumping Swisher, who battled Fuentes for seven pitches before popping out. When the Search is Serious When it is time to look for that job, that career-type job, check with The UTAH Statesman Job Finder first. Just go to www.A-Bay-USU.com and look for the job finder widget, right thre on the right. Start clicking and start the search. 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