The USU Aggies ran onto the court to a crowd of almost 3,000 on Spectrum Magic Night on Thursday night but lost in five sets to Utah Valley. There was much splendor and comedy with Big Blue twirling his wand in the air, yet he couldn’t find the magic to fix the heartbreaking loss. The match stretched to 5 sets, with the last one seeing Utah Valley win the match 25-18, 23-25, 18-25, 25-19, 17-15.
This match was the halfway point of a trio of matches involving in-state rivals. USU first played the 19th-ranked BYU and will play Weber State on Saturday. For those unable to attend in the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum, the match against Weber State will be streamed on the Mountain West Network.
USU Almost Beats Utah Valley
In the first set, both teams didn’t seem to get a feel for the other and started to run away from the game as neither team didn’t lead more than a point over the other. The UVU Wolverines found some footing with a three-point lead, creating some breathing room, and closed that gap to a single point. However, UVU went on a 6-1 run that left the Aggies in the dust, taking the set with 25-18.
The second set went better for the Aggies to go two sets down as they fought. They went on 3-0 runs, twice giving the Aggies an early lead of 10-6. USU seemed to run away with the game until the last few minutes when UVU scared the fans with a 4-0 run. Thanks to senior Adna Mehmedovic, who scored with a kill, Utah State took the set 25-23.
Utah State still had fire as it started the third set, making UVU worry at 6-1. The Aggies wouldn’t give the Wolverines an inch, going up 21-12. UVU strived to come back, but USU burned any dream they had with Mehmedovic blocked, stopping them and sealing their fate with the help of freshman Ava Napierski, scoring the last point to make it 25-18 Aggies.
Something happened to the magic USU had in the fourth set as UVU started strong and then went on a 7-0 run. The Wolverines led half of the set with a 14-9 score. USU felt the pressure and fought back, but it only cut the lead to two. It couldn’t get any closer until UVU settled; it was another run, ending the set with 25-19.
Now that there was going to be a fifth set. Both teams teetered tottered points at the start of the set. This went back and forth until the points added up: UVU 14, USU 12. The Aggies had some magic left as they scored three unanswered points, taking the lead and almost slamming the dream door on UVU. Unfortunately, the Wolverines learned how the Aggies did it and answered with three of their own with USU only able to score once.
Utah State, UVU Stars on the Court
Two Aggies did fantastic and almost stole the show. Mehmedovic had the most kills, 14, with freshman Loryn Helgesen just one behind her. Mehmedovic also had the most blocks, five. Defensively, sophomore Kendel Hone, a starter this season, finished with a team-high of 14 digs. She also supported her team, providing six assists and adding an ace.
USU also had a trio of secret weapon freshmen: Kaylie Kofe, Kate Lijic, and Andrea Simovski. Kaylie had a career-high of 28 assists and contributed seven digs for the team. Kate also gave the team 17 assists and nine digs. Andrea almost had a double-double, as she got eight kills and nine digs of her own.
The set ended at 17-15 Wolverines and UVU won. Utah State will play Weber State as they head south on Saturday, and the game can be watched on ESPN+.
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