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Show Friday, Oct. 2, 2009 Page 8 FridaySports Utah State University • Logan, Utah • www.aggietownsquare.com Ags get first WAC win By CONNOR JONES senior sports writer The Utah State spikers gave their home crowd a show with their first conference win of the season in a three-set sweep over San Jose State last night (25-18, 26-24, 25-14) in the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum. No single Aggie stood out in Thursday’s match, which was just fine with head coach Grayson Dubose. “We wanted to make sure we got a lot of different people involved,” Dubose said. “We’ve counted on Liz (McArthur) a bunch for a long period of time and we want to make sure we can get our other hitters involved as well.” While McArthur, the Valentine’s Day Killer, may not have been the focus of the game, she still managed to have USU’s match high in kills with nine. Taylor Japhet had 14 kills and seven digs to lead San Jose State. Christine Morrill had a good game from her libero position with two service aces and a match-high 13 digs. Right on Morrill’s tail was opposite side hitter Emily Kortsen who racked up 10 digs on the night. Kortsen had a good game at the net with 12 kills while she also provided one of the team’s six service aces. The Aggie middle blockers Shantell Durrant, Katie Astle and Danielle Taylor played well, hitting a combined .416 hitting percentage (11-1-24). USU won the first set 25- 18, outhitting the Spartans .133 (8-4-3) to .114 (13-9-35). Kortsen and McArthur each had three kills to lead USU in the first set. The Spartans made a fight out of the second set, leading for almost the entire time. The momentum shifted to the Aggies’ side when they were down 11-16. From that point the Aggies went on a 12-3 run and eventually won a close 26-24 set. The Spartans hit a .164 percentage (14-5-55) while the Aggies snuck by with .096 (13-8-52). San Jose also committed three service errors in the second set to just one error by USU. Utah State showed no mercy in the third set, hopping out to a 11-3 lead. The Spartans never caught their breath in the 2514 loss. USU hit a .296 (10-227) while SJSU had a .129 (128-31). Service errors plagued the Spartans once again, as they had three to none by USU. The Aggies’ win is their first WAC win of the season (1-2) while the Spartan loss is just another mark on their disappointing season of zero wins and 13 losses. They are now 0-3 in WAC play. The Aggies come back to the Spectrum on Saturday in an attempt to even out their conference record against the Boise State Broncos who are 111 overall and 1-1 in WAC play. AGGIE EMILY CORTSEN gets a dig during USU’s WAC win over San Jose State in the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum. PATRICK ODEN photo Idaho State stuns Aggie soccer, 1-0 SHANTEL FLANARY BATTLES for control of the ball during USU’s close loss to Idaho State Thursday afternoon at Chuck and Gloria Bell Field. PATRICK ODEN photo The Idaho State Bengals came into Bell Field Thursday afternoon and squeaked by the Aggies 1-0, sending Utah State’s record – 5-6-1 – into sub-.500 territory for the first time this season. The only goal scored in the match was in the 22nd minute. ISU’s Annamarie Hofstetter took a corner kick and put the ball into the middle of a scrum at the six-yard line. Karissa Henage-Fisher squeezed through, put a boot on the ball, and put her team up Cross Country heads to South Bend, Indiana By USU Media Relations – c.h.j@aggiemail.usu.edu By LANDON HEMSLEY staff writer TouchBase 1-0. The score was really not reflective of the pace of the match. The ball lived in ISU territory except for a few scattered intervals when the Bengals from Pocatello managed to swing the ball out on the wing and advance. USU obviously had the stronger midfield, but couldn’t manage to put itself forward enough to allow the scorers to have an effective opportunity. The most obvious statistic that stood out in the first half of the match was the lack of offensive shots by USU. Of USU’s four forwards, not a single one had a shot in the first half. Head coach Heather Cairns said she recognized that the offense was off. “What we’ve lost is the spunk in our attack,” Cairns said. “Our attack flat out let us down. Our forwards have to be more courageous and gutsy. You can win the possession game, but you can still come out on the loser’s side of things. That’s the frustrating thing about soccer. We’re still working on finding that complete game.” Except for the Aggie defensive miscue that led to the corner kick that gave the Bengals the lead, ISU did not outpossess or defeat USU’s defensive back line. USU’s defense, led by senior Sidne Garner, effectively swept the ball out of pressure situations and kept the Bengal defense in a reactionary mode for the entire game. Cairns said she really didn’t think USU’s goalkeeper, Molli Merrill, was tested in the match. “A lot of their shots were soft shots,” Cairns said. “If you look at the shots, it was 10-13 for us, but I can’t really remember Molli being tested.” USU had several great opportunities to win this match, especially in the second half. If USU controlled the midfield well in the first, the second was that much more solid for Utah State. More than once in the second half, Shantel Flanary or Lauren Hansen found herself with space deep in ISU territory but every shot sailed wide or high or was just misplayed enough to give ISU enough time to recover defensively and play the ball out of danger. For instance, in the 11th minute of the match, USU earned a corner kick after Flanary barreled down the right sideline with the ball. The defender stuck a boot on it as Flanary attempted the cross into the penalty box and sent it out of bounds. Summer Tillotson came up and took the corner kick. The kick sailed into the box, deflected off the foot of Erin Salmon and into Hansen’s wheelhouse. Hansen turned with nothing but net staring her in the face, took a swing and missed the ball. ISU instantly recovered and played the ball out of the penalty box and up into the midfield. Also, in the 56th minute of the match, USU snagged a questionable offsides call against the Bengals around midfield. Garner sent the ball forward from distance, and Flanary soon controlled the ball behind enemy lines. Flanary took a shot at a mostly wide-open net, and the ball sailed two feet to the right of the goal post. Beside the occasional opportunity that USU could not capitalize on, most of USU’s 13 shots came from more than 15 yards from the goal. – la.hem@aggiemail.usu.edu Utah State’s men’s and women’s cross country teams will compete in the 54th Annual Notre Dame Invitational Friday running 8K and 5K courses, respectively. This week USU’s men’s team was ranked No. 8 in the Mountain Region while the women were ranked 10th. A total of 47 teams will compete and the meet will kick off with the Gold Division women’s and men’s races at 2 p.m. and 2:45 p.m. (EDT), respectively, followed by the featured Blue Division races at 4:15 p.m. (women) and 5 p.m. (men). The races will be held at the nine-hole Notre Dame Golf Course. The Aggies will be running in the Blue Division and the 8K and 5K races will be the longest they have competed in thus far this season. Florida State swept the men’s and women’s Blue Division races last year, and both teams are back to defend their titles. The Aggie men finished 16th and the women finished 21st last year. So far this season the Aggie men have finished first in the Utah State Open and the Montana State Invitational. The women took first at the Utah State Open and finished fourth at the MSU Invitational. Sophomore Brian McKenna has led the Aggie men to both first-place finishes. ESPNU to televise USU volleyball By USU Media Relations The Western Athletic Conference announced Wednesday that ESPNU will televise four volleyball matches during the 2009 season, including Utah State’s home match against Idaho on Oct. 19 at 9 p.m. ESPNU will also televise two other regular-season WAC matches as New Mexico State hosts Fresno State on Oct. 22 and Fresno State hosts Hawaii on Oct. 29. ESPNU will also televise the championship match of the 2009 WAC Tournament, which will be played on Wednesday, Nov. 25 at The Orleans Arena in Las Vegas, Nev. “We are excited and honored to have our match versus Idaho on ESPNU,” said USU head coach Grayson DuBose. “It is another great opportunity for the WAC to gain exposure and for everyone around the country to see what we are building here at Utah State.” ESPNU is a multimedia college sports brand, highlighted by a 24-hour television network and Web site, ESPNU.com. The ESPNU schedule features more than 550 live events (regular-season and championships) annually. Action includes a variety of top football and men’s and women’s basketball. |