Broncos beat Utah State, will play for MW Championship

Thursday, November 25

Las Vegas, Nev.

2 p.m. MT

Boise State

23-10,10-8Mountain West

Utah State (Semifinal)

22-9,14-4Mountain West

Boise St.

Utah St.

Photo by: C. Morgan Engel/NCAA Photos Creation Date:

Broncos beat Utah State, will play for MW Championship

11/25/2021 6:57:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

Box Score Box Score (pdf)

Boise State rallied from one set down to beat the Aggies and advance to the Mountain West title match against UNLV at 2 p.m. (MT) on Friday.

By: Courtesy: Boise State Athletics

LAS VEGAS, Nev. - Boise State volleyball rallied from a set down to defeat Utah State in four 16-25, 25-17, 25-10, 27-25 in the first semifinal on Thursday at the 2021 Mountain West Volleyball Championship at Las Vegas. The Broncos struggled early, dropping the first set by nine points, then regrouped to win the final three sets to claim the win over the Aggies and a berth into Friday's championship match versus UNLV.

"I'm really pleased with how the team responded after falling behind a set," said head coach Shawn Garus. "I think the team did a really good job of regrouping and playing together in the final three sets. Lauren (Ohlinger) really stepped it up when we needed her. Overall, this was a team win, a lot of people contributed today against a really good Utah State team who had an outstanding year. But we have played two matches in two days, we will take it easy tonight to recoup and rest, so we are ready for tomorrow's championship match."

Boise State used a balanced offensive attack with five Broncos recording seven or more kills. As a team, the Blue and Orange out-hit Utah State .275 percent to .134 percent, on the year the Aggies had been hitting .234 percent. Another big impact in the match were the Broncos 13 team blocks to USU's six.

Lauren Ohlinger led Boise State with a team-high 20.5 points. The junior outside hitter recorded a double-double versus Utah State with a team-high 18 kills to go with 10 digs. She also hit .302 percent and had two block solos and one block assist.

"When we were down a set, I think we knew that we were struggling. But, we also knew what needed to be fixed and we did a really good job in the next three sets," said Ohlinger. "We hit our blocking, we served better and our passing improved a lot. I think we knew we could come back if we just believed in ourselves."

Freshman Paige Bartsch followed with 16.5 points on 11 kills, three service aces, two block solos and one block assist.

Rounding out the Boise State offense were Jordan Miller with nine kills while hitting .381 percent, Alyssa Wissinger with seven kills and three blocks, while Alli O'Harra added seven kills and four blocks.

Senior setter Danielle Boss recorded her second double-double of the tournament on 44 assists and 15 digs, both team highs. She also tallied three kills, one service ace and team-best five blocks, one was a solo. Meanwhile, Allison Casillas tied Boss for the team high on digs with 15 of her own, Chey Jones had nine.

The opening set saw the Broncos score the first point, then trail the rest of the way as they finished hitting a match-low .111 percent while the Aggies hit .303 percent for 14 kills.

Down one set, Boise State regrouped and dominated the next two sets, out scoring Utah State by a combined 50 to 27, winning the second period by eight points and the third by 15. Boise State hit .317 percent in the second and a match-high .519 percent in the third, while holding the Aggies below 14 percent in both.

The fourth set was a battle with mini runs by both schools, it featured 12 ties and five lead changes before it was settled in extra points. Trailing 18-17, Boise State rolled off a 4-0 run to go up 21-18. Ohlinger led the charge in the final set tallying nine kills and five digs for the Broncos.

Up three at 21-18, the Blue and Orange were forced to hold off the Aggies who rallied to tie the score four more times down the stretch with the last coming at 25 all. Miller gave the Broncos match point at 26-25 with her ninth kill of the contest. Then a USU hitting error handed Boise State the win at 27-25 to secure the number six-seeded Broncos a ticket to the championship match Friday afternoon.

The victory improved Boise State to 23-10 overall, tied for the sixth-most wins in program history.

Notables

Boise State's win over Utah State was the first of the season after falling in five during the lone regular-season match at Boise in mid-October.
The win extends Boise State's all-time series lead to 29-19 over the Aggies.
The No. 6-seed Broncos are one of three teams seeded fifth or lower to reach the MW Championship final joining No. 5 Utah in 2007 and No. 7 UNLV in 2011.
Boise State's semifinal victory is the first since the 1991 Big Sky Conference semifinal 3-0 win over Northern Arizona.
Friday's championship match appearance will be the first since the 1991 Big Sky Conference final, Boise State has never won a conference tournament title.
Ohlinger's 18 kills are the second most for a Bronco in a four-set conference tournament match all-time.
Boss' 44 assists are tied for the fourth most all-time at Boise State in a four-set conference tournament match.
The Broncos' seven block solos are tied for the most all-time in a four-set conference tournament match in program history.
Boss' double-double is the second of the tournament, 15th of the season and 39th in her career, all team highs.
Ohlinger's double-double is the ninth of the season and 21st of her career.