Broncos Battle USU in Four-Set Loss

Monday, November 6

Logan, Utah

3:30 p.m. MT

Boise State

11-14,7-8Mountain West

Utah State

21-5,14-1Mountain West

Boise St.

Utah St.

Paige Bartsch and Annie Kaminski go up for a block against New Mexico on Nov. 2, 2023.

11/6/2023 7:05:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

Box Score

By: Courtesy: Boise State Athletics

LOGAN, Utah - Boise State volleyball battled through four tightly contest sets before coming up on the short end of a 3-1 (25-27, 25-20, 27-25, 25-20) score Monday afternoon at Utah State.

The match saw 32 ties and 10 lead changes as the two rivals went back and forth for over two hours. Boise State dominated the net defensively, tallying a season-high 16 blocks to USU's eight. But the Aggies outhit the Blue and Orange .279 to .207 for a 65 to 53 advantage in kills.

Set one was a set that Utah State led until midway through when the Broncos rallied. Down 16-12, Boise State rallied with an 8-1 run to take a 20-17 lead. The Broncos did not trail again in the set, eventually winning it in extra points 27-25, powered by 10 Paige Bartsch kills.

Boise State jumped out fast early in the second period and led by as many as seven points midway through the frame. But Utah State rallied with an 11-2 run to take a 19-17 lead. The Aggies went on to close it out 25-20 to tie the match score at 1-1.

Set three was tight, with 14 ties and six lead changes before the Aggies pulled it out on a controversial call. Boise State thought it had tied the score up at 26 on a hitting error by Utah State. USU challenged the call, which resulted in the call being overturned, handing the set to the Aggies 27-25 for a 2-1 match lead.

The fourth set had nine ties and two lead changes. The score was tied at 11-11 when the Aggies went on an 8-1 run to go up 19-12. Boise State attempted to rally down the stretch but could not overcome the deficit, falling 25-20.

Top Broncos

Bartsch finished with team-highs for kills with 25 and points with 28.5, to go with one service ace, one block solo and three block assists.
Kiersten Van Kirk added seven kills with four blocks for 10.5 points.
Annie Kaminski tallied seven kills while hitting a team-best .583; she also had a team-high seven blocks and 11 points.
Noelani Helm recorded a double-double on a team-high 44 assists with 13 digs, with four kills and three block assists.
Bella McGirr recorded a team and career-high 18 digs as the libero.

Notables

Bartsch -- the nation's fourth-ranked player in kills -- has recorded three-straight matches with 20-plus kills, giving her 12 on the year and 19 in her career.
Bartsch's 25 kills are tied for fourth most in a four-set match during the rally scoring era (2001-present) and moved her into 15th place all-time in program history for career kills with 1,035...she has 464 kills this season, ranked third during the rally scoring era.
Bartsch's 28.5 points tied for fifth most in a four-set match during the rally scoring era; she now has 1,223.5 in her career, moving her into seventh place at Boise State, edging Maddy O'Donnell (2013-16) by half a point, 1,223.0...note, the points statistical category began with the rally scoring era in 2001.
Helm's double-double against Utah State was her 12th of the season.
The team's 16 blocks are tied for the seventh most in a four-set match during the rallying scoring era...the most blocks in a match (overall) since Boise State had 17 at San Diego State on Oct. 30, 2021.
The loss moved the Broncos to 11-14 overall and 7-8 in Mountain West play.

What's Next

Boise State will close out the 2023 home slate this Saturday when it hosts the San Jose State Spartans for Senior Day; first serve is at Noon (Mountain) in Bronco Gym.