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Show Wednesday, Sept. 1, 2010 StatesmanSports Page 11 Wildcats Subdued by Aggie Hitters By TYLER HUSKINSON web editor The Utah State Aggies (30) continued their hot start to the volleyball season Aug. 31 by defeating the Weber State Wildcats in three sets at home. The Aggies improve to 2-0 on the season against instate rivals, while the Wildcats dropped to 0-4 on the season and just couldn't find a comfortable groove against the Aggies. The Wildcats struggled mightily with ball control throughout the entire match and the Aggies were able to capitalize. "We were able to serve well enough tonight," said USU head coach Grayson Dubose. "I thought we were able to get those guys uncomfortable and out of system a lot." The Aggies jumped out to a quick and commanding 5-0 lead early in first set, forcing the Wildcats into an early timeout. The Wildcats wouldn't go quietly in the first set, however, battling back to tie the set 12-12. Junior Liz McArthur, fresh off of being named WAC Player of the Week, put the Aggies up 17-13 with one of her five kills during the set. USU never looked back, closing out the set 25-17. The Wildcats battled back, and the second set swayed in their favor early on as they kept the score close and fought to a 13-11 lead. Sophomore outside hitter Bethany Wray, who had five kills in the first set, had six more kills in the second set, but it wasn't enough as the Aggie defense tightened up by going from two blockers to three blockers on the front line. The adjustment played to the Aggie advantage and allowed USU to take control of the set. "We feel like that when we serve well and know where they're going, we can get three blockers up, and that really plays to our advantage so that we can run our system and keep them out of system," said senior middle blocker Katie Astle. Astle had two kills in the second set and finished with seven kills on the match. Junior outside hitter Liz McArthur continued to play strong and scored a career-high five service aces, including three in a row in the second set. The Aggies won the second set 2519 and carried the momentum in to the third set. The Aggies jumped out to a commanding 11-4 lead in the third set, forcing the Wildcats to call another timeout. The Wildcats trimmed the lead to 14-10, but the USU rallied off three straight points to force the Wildcats into their final timeout. It was another stirring performance by USU, but in the end, Dubose was just happy to get a win. "I think we work hard and I think good things should happen when we work hard. It's a nice team win. We mixed it up a little bit and got some people experience. It's kind of nice to reward everybody for working hard," Dubose said. The Aggies will next take their undefeated record to the Arizona State hosted Sheraton Classic. They will face San Diego State and Seattle University on Friday, followed by Arizona State on Saturday. Coach Dubose said his team will need to step up to be successful over the weekend. "We need to be focused; we need to be dialed-in right from the beginning. It's going to be a challenging couple of matches for us," he said. The Aggies will take on San Diego State for their first match of the Sheraton Classic on Friday morning at 11 a.m. — ty.d.hus@aggiemaiLusu.edu McArthur named as WAC's player of the week BY USU ATHLETICS Utah State volleyball player Liz McArthur has been named the Western Athletic Conference Player of the Week, it was announced by the league office Monday. McArthur was also named the America First Credit Union Utah State Student-Athlete of the Week for the period ending Sunday, Aug. 29, an award that is voted on by a state-wide media panel. It is the first time in her career that McArthur has been named WAC Player of the Week, and the third time she has received USU student-athlete of the week honors. McArthur, a 6'1" junior outside hitter from St. George, Utah (Snow Canyon HS) was named the Most Valuable Player of the 2010 Utah Classic as she led Utah State to wins against UC Davis (3-0) and Utah (3-1) to claim the tournament championship. The win against the Utes was USU's first since the 1990 season, snapping a 13-match road-losing streak to Utah. Against UC Davis, McArthur had 19 kills and hit .500 (19-3-32). Against Utah, she tied her career-high with 25 kills and added a career-high 15 digs for her first double-double of the season. She also hit .512 (25-3-43) in the match. For the tournament, McArthur hit an unbelievable .507 (44-6-75) and averaged 6.29 kills and 2.57 digs per set. Merrill is soccer player of the week BY USU ATHLETICS Utah State goalkeeper Molli Merrill was named the Western Athletic Conference Defensive Player of the Week, Monday. This is the first career WAC Player of the Week honor for Merrill. It is also the secondstraight player of the week honor for the Aggies after junior forward Shantel Flanary earned the WAC Offensive Player of the Week award last week. Merrill, a junior from Bountiful, Utah (Bountiful HS), registered her second-straight shutout as the Aggies tied Idaho State, 0-0, in double overtime in Pocatello on Sunday. Merrill had two saves in 110 minutes of action, facing 13 shots, including seven in the first half. It marks the first time in her USU career that she has had back-to-back shutouts. She has now gone 202 minutes without allowing a goal, dating back to the season opener against Weber State on Aug. 20. Yolanda McMillion, a sophomore forward from New Mexico State, led the crimson Aggies to the Hotel Encanto Aggie Classic title with the first hat trick in school history to earn WAC Offensive Player of the Week honors. Merrill, who is in her second season as the Aggies regular starting goalkeeper, has allowed only one goal in three matches this season for a goals against average of .31. She has made seven saves this season. She has a stellar .875 save percentage this season. USU continues its road trip heading to the Golden State for the first of six matches in California. USU will take on Long Beach State on Friday, Sept. 3 at 6 p.m. and San Diego State on Sunday, Sept. 5 at 2 p.m. Am Order PO or more get $200 OM Not valid with other discounts. Not including tax. 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