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Show Wednesday, Sept. 2, 2009 Page 8 WednesdaySports Utah State University • Logan, Utah • www.aggietownsquare.com Ags beat BYU in a thriller VOLLEYBALL TouchBase Hansen earns WAC, local honors BY USU ATHLETICS By CONNOR JONES sports senior writer In true Spectrum fashion the energy was electric for Utah State Woman’s Volleyball 2009 home opener, which they won in a thrilling fifth set. “The crowd was awesome tonight,” head coach Grayson DuBose said. “The crowd really was the eighth person out there on the court tonight and I can’t thank them enough.” Maybe from the promise of “Star Trek” just outside on the HPER Field or maybe because it was the first home sporting event of the semester, Aggie fans showed up to support the now 2-2 team. USU started out hot in the first set with a season high .560 hitting percentage (15-1-25). The hitting percentage is the number of kills minus the number of errors divided by the total attempts. After USU’s JUNIOR CHELSEA FOWLES, 2, SOPHOMORE EMILY KORTSEN, 12, and teammates celebrate after quick start, BYU pulled back into contention, the game felt close until junior libero Christine Morrill, beating rival BYU in a heated tiebreaker Tuesday night at the Spectrum. CODY GOCHNOUR photo .387 percentage. from Neola, Utah, stole the momentum by laying out for a diving play that The fourth set started with a 6-2 run by the Aggies, after which BYU’s head brought the ball back in play and eventually led to an Aggie point making the coach, Shay Goulding, quickly called a time out. The break seemed to successscore 16-10. The Aggies went on to win the set 25-18. fully break USU’s momentum and the score soon became to 13-9. Back-to-back The second set was more of the same for the Aggies who were kick started by an opening serve ace from Morrill, who finished with two aces in the game. The attack errors by McArthur followed by an error from Taylor allowed the Cougars to swiftly move one point behind USU, 12-13. Throughout the rest of the set the next crucial point came at 7-4 when a long rally ended with a kill from outside score was tied 10 times and the lead changed hands seven times. Eventually, hitter Liz McArthur bringing the score to 8-4. McArthur, sophomore from St. six-foot five-inch Kayla Walker of BYU banged out four straight kills giving the George, Utah, had a career high 19 kills Tuesday. Cougars a 28-26 set win. BYU had a large front line and the outside hitters knew they needed to be The deciding fifth set is played to 15 points rather than the usual 25, which creative with their kill shot, McArthur said. Their creativity paid off with 65 means it’s especially important to get a quality start, and even though BYU won total team kills. At 14-10 the USU crowd showed no mercy or class when they the hard fought fourth set, DuBose said, it still felt like USU had the momencheered and mocked BYU’s libero, Chelsea Goodsell, after being hit hard in the tum. face by a forceful kill from junior middle-blocker Shantell Durrant. Redshirt Similar to the previous four sets USU wasted no time, they jumped out to a junior Danielle Taylor, who hasn’t had game time since Sept. 2, 2008 when an ankle injury kept her on the sideline, got one play of action late in the second set 4-0 lead. A ball handling error followed by a service error allowed BYU to reach one point behind the Aggies at 9-8. The one point deficit proved to be the closbut subbed-out with no touches on the ball. USU went on to lose the set 21-25 est USU would allow BYU to get. The Aggies won the set by a final score of 15hitting a game low .105 percentage. 11, winning the game three sets to two. The Aggies started the third set coming out of the locker room with Taylor The final two points scored in deciding fifth set were on a service error folserving. They made quick work going on a 5-1 run. The Aggie women frustrated lowed by an attack error for BYU. Errors from BYU and high energy from USU BYU throughout the third set allowing zero aces and avoiding the Cougar front proved to be the deciding factors. line from tallying up any blocks. BYU hit its game-low hitting percentage of “The mental game is really important. You have to always be thinking about .174 while USU surpassed its season high for the second time that night with a the next ball,” said McArthur. .667 percent. USU’s next challenge comes from another in-state rival. University of Utah, McArthur had a personal hitting percentage of .800 with four kills on five who is ranked 17th in the nation, travels to the Spectrum Tuesday, Sept. 8, at 7 attempts with zero errors. Sophomore opposite side hitter from Hollister, Calif., p.m. Emily Kortsen matched McArthur’s four kills in the third set, which the Aggies – c.h.j@aggiemail.usu.edu won 25-15. Kortsen’s 15 kills on the night gave her a new career high. She hit a Andersen, Aggies ready for first game By G. CHRISTOPHER TERRY assistant sports editor Thursday’s game against USU’s cousin to the south represents a historic point in the Utah, USU rivalry in more ways than one. The teams won’t meet again for two years, so the loser won’t have a chance at redemption any time soon. The “Battle of the Brothers” has been played every year since 1943, making it the 12th-most played rivalry in the Football Bowl Subdivision. It’s also just the second time since 1982 that a head coach has begun the season against his former team. The last time Gary Andersen was coaching in a live game situation, it was in the Sugar Bowl in New Orleans, and he was wearing Ute red and watching his defense throttle a favored Alabama team. The last time he coached in Rice-Eccles Stadium, it was Nov. 22, 2008 in the BYU vs. Utah game, when his defense intercepted BYU’s Max Hall five times. Andersen sounded completely focused on preparing his team Tuesday. “I would say more in the summer I thought about that stuff but not now,” Andersen said. “Our situation is we need to go out and play our game and do what we do. We can’t sit there and worry about what tunnel we’re coming out of. Football is football ... I’ve come out of a lot of different tunnels.” Once the ball is snapped, fans will see two teams with similar philosophies going at it. Both teams want to spread the field on offense and play at a high tempo, while hammering the quarterback on defense. “The best pass defense is always a pass rush. There’s no question,” Andersen said. “Every coverage no matter how you play ends up breaking down at the end of the day if you give them enough time.” If USU wants to sustain drives they need to get a blocker on big number 10 in red – linebacker Stevenson Sylvester. Sylvester was a second team AllMountain West selection a year ago and is a senior with three varsity letters. He leads a defense that is probably the strength of the Utah team for now, even without defensive backs Sean Smith and Bryce McCain, and athletic pass-rusher Paul Kruger. “They have very good linebackers,” said USU’s starting running back, Robert Turbin. “Sylvester, you know he’s their top guy. I’ve tried to watch as much film as I could on number 10 because he’s that good of a player that you have to spend a few hours studying him. He’s tall and lanky. His body is kind of unorthodox, which I think makes him a good linebacker. It’s hard to block him, he gets off blocks really well because of his body type.” The defensive line is a traditional position of strength for Utah, but sustained a major loss when it - See PREVIEW, page 9 Junior forward Lauren Hansen has been named both the Western Athletic Conference Offensive Player of the Week and the America First Credit Union Utah State Student-Athlete of the Week it was announced on Monday. The USU weekly award is voted on by a state media panel. Hansen, a junior from Camano Island, Wash. (Stanwood HS) scored three goals in two matches as Utah State went 2-0 last week to win the Miner Classic title in El Paso, Texas. Hansen scored the game-winning goal in USU’s 3-2 win over Stephen F. Austin. In Utah State’s 3-2 win over Texas Tech, Hansen scored the first two Aggie goals as USU won its first-ever match against a Big XII opponent. Utah State’s 3-0 record marks the team’s best start in program history. This is the first WAC Player of the Week honor for Hansen this season. This is the second-straight week that the Aggies have been honored by the WAC after Summer Tillotson was named WAC Defensive Player of the week last week. After a successful 20 road trip, the Aggies return home for a twomatch home stand against a pair of Cowgirls. USU takes on No. 21 Oklahoma State on Friday, Sept. 4 at 4 p.m. and Wyoming on Sunday, Sept. 6 at 1 p.m. Both matches will be played at Chuck and Gloria Bell Soccer Field. Racquetball club tryouts on Sept. 8 The Utah State Racquetball club, currently ranked 10th in the nation, is looking for new members both male and female. Tryouts will be held Tuesday, Sept. 8 from 7-9 p.m. at the Racquetball courts in the HPER. |