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Show Monday, Oct. 29, 2007 Page 7 StatesmcinSpprtS Companies flttendng the 2007 Tech Expo Aggie spikers stay hot with win over Fresno By DAVID BAKER assistant sports editor The Aggie volleyball team closed out a busy week on the court with a Western Athletic Conference win over Fresno State 3-1 Saturday night at the Spectrum. With the win, Utah State swept its three matches last week, building afive-matchwinning streak and running its record to 14-10, 9-4 in WAC play. Saturday night's win was eerily familiar. Like their matches with Weber State and Utah Valley earlier in the week, the Aggies came out and won the first two games - by four points in Game 1 and eight in Game 2 - and then dropped the third. "I think that's maturity, to be honest," Head Coach Grayson DuBose said of his team's third games woes. "That's a lame excuse at this point in the season, but I really think our young kids don't know how to come out in the third game ... They haven't learned how to do that yet, and time's kind of, of the essence now. We've got to figure it out pretty fast because we don't have a lot of time left." Junior middle blocker Rebecca Anderson pointed to something different. "Maybe we just get relaxed. 'Oh we've already got two games out. We don't have to be so stressed out. We don't have to be too technical,"' she said. "We're not watching the things we need to watch. We're just not being as disciplined on the block as we need to be." Either way, the Aggies were in Game 3 throughout. They jumped out on top early with kills by Anderson and senior Amanda Nielson, but they soon settled into a close battle with Fresno State that yielded 17 ties and five lead changes. USU had decent numbers, with 16 kills as they hit .188 in Game 3, but it wasn't the offense that was the problem. The Aggie block wasn't able to stop Fresno's attack late in the game, and the Bulldogs hit their way to a 30-27 win and avoided a sweep. If it wasn't for a boost in middle blockers Anderson and Danielle Taylor, Game 4 may have turned out much the same as Game 3 did. Between the third and fourth games, DuBose said they talked about getting the middles more involved in the offense. Since everybody keys on the outside on Nielson and Melissa Osterloh, they looked to the middle as a way to diversify the attack, DuBose said. It worked. Anderson had six kills in the final game, and Taylor added another four to help lift the Aggies to a 30-26 win to take the match. "Since Amanda Nielson's our main hitter, some teams just kind of go sit on her, and I think we spread the offense out and it gives all our hitters a,better opportunity to go out and do good," Anderson said. Nielson still hit well, racking up 26 kills with a .295 hitting percentage. But Nielson wasn't alone, as several Aggies had good matches. Partly due to her big Game 4, Anderson had nine kills, tying a career high. Two freshmen, setter Chelsea Fowles and libero Christine Morrill, had season-high matches. Fowles tied her season high assist mark, recording 63 Saturday night, and Morrill set a season high with 24 digs. Osterloh also notched her team-leading 10th double-double with 12 digs and 12 kills. The energy and solid play Saturday night was a product of a day off the Aggies took Friday, Anderson said. It allowed the team to rest mentally and physically, she added, which allowed them to shake off some of the fatigue seen in the UVU match. In games 1 and 2, USU certainly looked rested and ready to go. After the first few points of the first game, the Aggies weren't really challenged the rest of that game. Utah State even gave Fresno 14 points on errors, including six service errors, and still was able to win handily. Game 2 was much the same. The Aggies never trailed or tied, and they imposed their will on the Bulldogs, hitting .268. Nielson dominated the USU attack with 10 kills and a .562 hitting percentage in Game 2. Although it was an eight-point win, the Aggies lead by as much as 12, and it could have been worse, as Utah State gave the Bulldogs 11 points on errors. USU finished the game with five blocking errors and 16 service errors, with four each coming from Nielson and Jessalyn Payne and five from senior Heather Hillier. "Five errors for us is huge," DuBose said of the blocking errors. "We don't make that many errors in a couple of matches, let alone one." Despite errors, Utah State seems to still be rolling. "We make some errors, and we keep finding ways to win," DuBose said. "If we just minimize our errors a bunch, I think we're going to be a real nice team in the end, come tournament time." UTAH COMING TO TOWN The Aggies will look to continue their hot streak against an in-state rival as the University of Utah comes to the Spectrum Tuesday at 6 p.m. "I think we have an amazing opportunity to take a match from them," Anderson said. "It's the best in-state rival that we have, and we haven't beat them since I've been here." Utah State was swept by the Utes last year in Salt Lake City, and Anderson said that's one thing thing that will be on her mind going into Tuesday's match. DuBose said the U is a good team that has been picking up some wins in the Mountain West Conference lately and has recorded other big wins on the year. The key to the game for the Aggies will be to solidify their block against a good-hitting Ute team, Anderson said. - da.bake@aggiemail.usu.edu MELISSA OSTERLOH (3) bumps the ball over the net as teammate Amanda Nielson (33) looks on. Osterloh recorded her team-leading I Oth doubledouble of the year with 12 digs and 12 kills in a Utah State victory over Fresno State in the Spectrum Satruday night. PATRICK ODBN photo Thursday, November 1st We accept Quest a r Gas Company Riedesel Engineering Inc. Rio Tinlo Services Inc. DeltaValvc, Division of Curliss-Wright Flow Control Corporation DOWL Engineers & Alaska Tcstlab Electrical Consultants, Inc. Engineering System Solutions, ES_ Federal Bureau of Investigation FLSmidth RAHCO Inc. FlyingJ Inc. Frceport-McMoRan Copper & Gold, Inc. Freese and Nichols, Inc. G.C. Wallace Companies GEM Buildings Geneva Rock Products, Inc. Glanbia Foods, Inc Granite Construction Company GSC Foundries. Inc. Guardian Fabrication, Inc. Hansen, Allen & Luce Inc. Horroclvs Engineers Hunt Electric, Inc. Idaho National Laboratory IM Flash Technologies (an Intel, Micron venture) Inovar Inc. Jack Johnson Company SabiOso, Inc. Sargent Engineers Sierra Nevada Corporation Space Dynamics Lab SuperGen Inc. 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