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Show Monday, Sept. 14, 2009 Page 8 MondaySports Utah State University • Logan, Utah • www.aggietownsquare.com Volleyball Ags turn up heat in Arizona By Connor Jones sports senior writer USU swept the 2009 Fiesta Friday where the Aggies Bowl Tournament in Flagstaff, started where they left off Ariz., Saturday defeating against Idaho State, defeatthe Citadel (3-0), Wyoming ing the Citadel in three sets (3-1) and Northern Arizona (25-12, 25-15, 25-19). Junior University (3-1) for the first outside hitter from Provo, Aggie tournament champiLori Wilson-Beckstrom, had onship since 2005 when the a career-high 15 kills and Aggies won the Hurricane .522 (15-3-23) hitting percentInvitational age. Another hosted by Tulsa career-high University. on the night Liz • LIz McArthur named came from McArthur was 2009 Fiesta Bowl sophomore named tourna- Tournament MVP, set opposite side ment MVP hitter Emily after averaging new career-high with Kortsen, who 1.00 digs, 0.60 23 kills. hit a .667 (9-1blocks and 4.30 • USU won nine of the 12) percentage. kills per set The Aggies hit 11 sets while hitting a a .375 (14-5• USU is 9-0 in first .360 (43-11-89) 24) and held hitting percent- sets this year The Citadel to age. McArthur, a -.158 (2-5-19) a sophomore outside hitter hitting percentage in the first from St. George, had a career set 25. high 23 kills against Northern The second and third set Arizona. was more of the same for USU, Chelsea Fowles and which hit a .481 (16-3-27) Shantell Durrant were also while holding the Citadel to honored for their play during .250 (9-4-20) and a .458 (13the tournament, named to the 2-24), limiting the Citadel to all-tournament team. .000 (8-8-27) hitting percentThe tournament began age, respectively. The Aggies Fast Stats freshman forward rachel feuz, 12, dives for a ball during the Aggies’ match against Utah. USU won it’s first tournament since 2005 in Arizona over the weekend. cody gochnour photo - See SWEEP, page 9 Women’s Soccer USU splits a pair of games in Texas By LANDON HEMSLEY & STEVE CRASS staff writers Allison Dillon’s first-minute goal for the University of Texas-San Antonio was enough to lift the Roadrunners over USU Friday night. UTSA took possession and sent it low to the base line and earned a corner kick right off the bat. UTSA forward Kara Hoffman sent it in from the corner to Dillon, who put it past sophomore goalkeeper Molli Merrill to take the lead. That goal set the score at 1-0, and that’s where it stayed for 89 minutes afterward. Head coach Heather Cairns said she was disappointed and the team really needed more determination from the start in a tough road match like this. She also gave credit to UTSA for not folding down the stretch. “That goal in the first minute really caused us to chase the game a little bit,” Cairns said. “We had opportunities, but we didn’t do much with them. I have to give them credit, though. They were a resilient team to play against.” This match was USU’s first loss on the road. Cairns said although the loss was frustrating, she is not overly concerned with the state of the team. She said the issue is not on the defensive end of the field, but converting on offensive opportunites when they present themselves. Midfielder Heather Pond agreed with Cairns and said although the loss is frustrating, it is not causing a great amount of concern to her or the team. “It’s always hard to come off a loss, but this one is not particularly hard,” Pond said. “We just need to make sure we can move on from this. We can do it.” Further evidence that the final score is not entirely reflective of the pace of the game is in the goalkeeping statistics. Backup goalkeeper Aleena Shelton saw action in this match when she took over for Molli Merrill in the second half. Shelton had three saves and didn’t allow a goal. The two USU keepers combined for five saves in the match. By contrast, the UTSA keeper converted on eight saves. USU forward Shantel Flanary took three shots, two of which were on goal. Danielle Shorts, except for not scoring, also did remarkably well with her USU forward shantel flanary, 7, fights for the ball against Oklahoma State. USU split a pair of road games this weekend, falling to the University of Texas-San Antonio and beating Houston Baptist. Patrick oden photo offensive opportunities. She took six shots on goal. Such statistics are indicative that Utah State did a good job of keeping the ball in Roadrunner territory and controlling the midfield effectively, despite the fact that USU was not able to convert on any of its opportunities. Pond said USU’s shots could not find a hole to pass through into the UTSA net. “We took a ton of shots,but it seemed like every single one went straight to their keeper. They just didn’t hit,” Pond said. “They didn’t have a better level of skill by any means.” Cairns said the largest holes in the Aggies’ gameplay was their offensive execution and team readiness from the opening whistle. “We were looking for that big play on the other side of the ball,” Cairns said. “We just need to be better from the middle of the field to the final third.” This loss marks the third match this season in which USU has surrendered a goal within the first 10 minutes. Pond said starting strong is one area where the team can improve. “We need to make sure we all come out together,” she said. “We need to connect and combine.” Sunday at Houston Baptist The Utah State Aggies came away with their fourth win of the season after beating the Huskies of Houston Baptist 5-1 Friday. It was the program’s 100th win overall. The Aggies (4-2-1) had previously struggled with possession between their midfielders and forwards, often losing the ball in one-on-one battles or creating poorly aimed passes, which in turn allowed their opponents to retake the ball. This game, however, was a completely different story. “We were very good with our possession, which was an improvement,” said USU head coach Heather Cairns. “I was pleased that it increased.” - See SPLIT, page 9 TouchBase Top 25 1. Florida 2-0 2. Texas 2-0 3. USC 2-0 4. Alabama 2-0 5. Mississippi 1-0 5. Penn State 2-0 7. BYU 2-0 8. California 2-0 9. LSU 2-0 10. Boise State 2-0 11.Ohio State 1-1 12. Oklahoma 1-1 13. Virg. Tech 1-1 14. Georgia Tech 2-0 15. TCU 1-0 16. Okla. St. 1-1 17. Cincinnati 2-0 18. Utah 2-0 19. Nebraska 2-0 20. Miami (FL) 1-0 21. Houston 2-0 22. Kansas 2-0 23. Georgia 1-1 24. UNC 2-0 25. Michigan 2-0 1491 1404 1396 1328 1145 1145 1122 1058 951 945 840 835 749 683 609 445 407 405 365 364 341 271 260 250 169 Tiger Woods wins again LEMONT, Ill. (AP)–Tiger Woods’ only way out was a 3-iron through a 20-foot wide corridor of fans and 30foot high canopy of trees. For his next shot, he had to hook a 9-iron around another big tree and try to bounce it up a ramp onto the green. After all that, he wound up with another birdie. Walking off the ninth green with his lead still at seven shots, Woods shrugged his shoulders and smiled as if nothing could go wrong. Hardly anything did at the BMW Championship. All it took was one big week to end a month of frustration for the world’s No. 1 player. One day after his courserecord 62 gave him a sevenshot lead, Woods made sure no one else had a chance Sunday at Cog Hill, where he closed with a 3-under 68 for an eight-shot victory over Jim Furyk and Marc Leishman. The victory was his sixth of the year and assured Woods of the No. 1 seed for the final tournament of the FedEx Cup. It was his first victory since he blew a two-shot lead last month in the final round of the PGA Championship. His most recent chance at winning came at Liberty National two weeks ago, where he missed a 7-foot birdie putt on the last hole to get into a playoff. “To play as well as I have of late and not get the W’s has been a little bit frustrating, no doubt, because I’ve been so close,” he said. “It’s just been a matter of making a couple of putts here and there, and I would have won the tournaments. And lo and behold, boom! I hit the ball just as well, just as consistent this week, and I made a few putts. And that’s how it happens.” Woods finished at 19under 265 to win for the fifth time at Cog Hill. It was his 10th career PGA Tour victory by at least eight shots. Not that Cog Hill was devoid of drama. “It felt like we had a tournament within a tournament,” Furyk said after his 66. “Tiger was seven ahead. He was kind of running away. It was kind of a tournament for second place.” |