Broncos Fall in Five to Utah State

Saturday, October 19

Boise, Idaho

Noon MT

Boise State

12-7,4-3Mountain West

Utah State

8-11,5-3Mountain West

Utah St.

Boise St.

10/19/2024 3:40:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

Box Score

By: Courtesy: Boise State Athletics

BOISE, Idaho – Boise State volleyball came up on the short end of a 3-2 score Saturday afternoon as the Broncos fell 25-14, 17-25, 25-18, 22-25, 15-11 to the Utah State Aggies in a Mountain West match. With the loss, the Broncos moved to 12-7 overall and 4-4 in conference play.

Boise State struggled with consistency as Utah State outhit the Broncos .371 to .206 for a 76 to 55 advantage in kills. The Blue and Orange held advantages in service aces 13 to two and blocks nine to seven.

The Broncos struggled offensively early and were forced to play from behind most of the first set. Tied at 8-8, Utah State closed the set on a 17-6 run, winning it 25-14.

Tied at 9-9 in the second, Boise State surged, taking the lead for good with a 3-1 run to go up 12-10. After that, the Broncos kept the Aggies at a distance, eventually winning by eight points, 25-17.

The third was close until midway through the set when Utah State took control. Tied at 15-15, the Aggies used a 7-1 run to go up 22-16. The Broncos never recovered as the visitors claimed a 25-18 win.

The fourth saw the Broncos use a 5-0 run to break an 8-8 tie and take the lead for good. The set remained close down the stretch before Boise State took it by three at 25-22 to tie the match at 2-2 and force the fifth set.

Boise State started slowly in the fifth, falling behind 8-5 at the midway point. The Broncos rallied, closing within 10-9, but could get no closer as the Aggies held on for the 15-11 win to secure the match.

TOP BRONCOS

Paige Bartsch recorded her seventh double-double of the season on team-highs for kills with 21 and assists (tied for high) with 11. She also had team and season highs for service aces and blocks, with six each, and in points with 31.
Lilli Etter earned her seventh double-double on a career-tying and team-high 23 assists to go with 10 digs. She also had four kills and two aces.

NOTABLES

Paige Bartsch's six service aces were one short of her career-high; she now has 126 in her career, two short of tying for ninth on the all-time career list.
Bartsch's 31 points moved her to within a half point of tying for third place on the career points list with 1,611.
Bartsch's 21 kills gave her three matches with 20-plus kills on the year and 23 in her career; it also gave her 73 career matches with double-digit kills, moving her to within two of tying for the third-most double-digit kills in program history during the Rally Scoring Era (since 2001).
The team's 13 service aces were a season-high and ranked third during the Rally Scoring Era for aces in a five-set match.

QUOTABLES

Shawn Garus, head coach

"We did not play well today. But I like the fact that we still have a chance to win. There's a lot of value in finding ways to win when you don't have your A game. I was hoping we could find a way. But today, we just weren't very sharp."