Utah State volleyball saw its historic 2022 campaign come to a close on Friday night as USU (22-11, 11-7 Mountain West) lost in straight sets to sixth-seeded Arkansas (21-8, 11-7 SEC) in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
Friday's match marked Utah State's fifth-ever appearance in the NCAA Tournament and its first since 2010. Utah State earned the automatic bid after winning its first-ever MW Tournament title. Four Aggies were named to the all-MW tournament team in senior outside hitter Shelby Capllonch (MVP), senior middle blocker Kennedi Boyd, junior outside Tatum Stall and sophomore opposite side hitter Adna Mehmedovic. Prior to the championship run, Boyd and Stall were each named all-Mountain West.
Capllonch and Stall each led the Aggies with eight kills against the Razorbacks. Sophomore setter Beatriz Rodrigues led the squad with 15 assists, followed by freshman Leah Wilton-LaBoy with 12.
Defensively, Mehmedovic and grad middle blocker Myrthe Maring led USU with three blocks each, while Capllonch had a match-best 10 digs.
Utah State took an early 3-1 lead in set one after a pair of Stall kills and a Razorback attack error. Arkansas responded with a 3-0 run to take a one-point edge. The set stayed close with a Mehmedovic hammer trimming the advantage to 11-10. However, a 7-1 Razorback spurt gave Arkansas an 18-11 lead. The Aggies got within striking distance with a 4-1 run, punctuated by a Maring and Mehmedovic block, to trim the lead to 21-18. Arkansas would hold on to its lead to win 25-19.
Arkansas started off hot in set two, taking an 8-3 lead. The teams then traded points until a Wilton-LaBoy setter dump and back-to-back Razorback errors brought Utah State to within one at 13-12. Arkansas countered with a 6-0 run to take a 19-12 lead. The Aggies scored twice more in the set as the Razorbacks won 25-14.
Set three was a close one early as the teams had six ties with a Boyd kill evening the score at 8-apiece. Arkansas countered with a 7-1 run for a 15-9 lead and led the remainder of the set for the 25-15 win.
Overall, USU hit .136 (31-17-103), while Arkansas hit .333 (43-12-93).
Original source can be found here.
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