By Wade Denniston

The Utah State University women's volleyball team got back to its winning ways Monday night vs. Idaho State University in the Spectrum.

The Aggies (9-10 overall, 6-4 Big West Conference) beat the Bengals in three tough games 15-13, 15-7, 16-14, prolonging the match longer than was expected from the USU side.

"I thought it was going to be a faster match than that," Aggie head coach Tom Peterson said It seemed the Aggies just forgot to tell the Bengals of their plans for a short match.

After letting USU cruise to an 8-0 advantage in the first game, Idaho State reeled off an eight-point run of its own to tie it.

The Aggies then opened up an 11-8 lead, but the Bengals went on a 4-2 run to close the gap once again as they came to within one, 13-12, before eventually falling.

The second game was much like the first as USU took an early lead, 2-0, but Idaho State clawed back into it to tie it at 2.

The Bengals (10-14) took their first lead of the game and match, 4-3, when senior middle blocker Tara Dunn and sophomore outside hitter Joy Kugler contributed with a block assist.

USU took the lead back for good at 5-4 when sophomore outside hitter Heather Olmstead served up an ace.

The third game was a reversal of the first two as the Bengals grabbed the early advantage, 6-2.

The Aggies were able to tie it, then take the lead back, 7-6, on one of freshman outside hitter Rochelle Currier's seven kills in the match. But as they did the whole match, the Bengals battled back and took a 13-11 lead, which resulted in an Aggie timeout.

"My impression of that team is they have to keep scrapping and scrapping for them to win, and they did," Peterson said. "When they were down, they came back, and give them credit for that."

However, it was the Aggies' scrappiness in the third game that allowed them to win their fourth home match in a row.

After the Idaho State tied it at 14, the two teams sided-out 10 times, including a spectacular rally (won by the Bengals) in the ninth side-out, before USU took its 15th point on a junior outside hitter Amy Goulding-Crosbie kill. The Aggies scored the next point to close out the match.

"Long rallies are an indication of playing some defense and I think we do," Peterson said. "We've got some people in there that like to play defense."

USU will now prepare to meet New Mexico State University on Thursday night and the University of North Texas on Saturday night, both on the road.

USU is considering this an important, if not the most important road trip this year, especially with the match against NMSU.

"Thursday is a huge match," Peterson said. "That's maybe our biggest match yet to date. They are going to be out for murder against us. "That really puts us in the driver's seat if we can beat New Mexico (State)."

USU is in a tie with the University of Nevada for first place in the Eastern Division of the Big West.

The Aggies and Roadrunners met Oct. 9 in the Spectrum with USU winning in three games.

Both teams will be up for the match since NMSU had coach Mike Jordan was an assistant coach at USU under former head coach Ginny Alexander. Senior setter Lori Sargent-McKnight knows what it means to face the Roadrunners and her former coach.

"It's really fun because I like it when his team's doing bad and they're getting yelled at," she said. "I just hate it when they do well and you can see him gloating over there because he knows he's beating us and it drives me nuts, so we're going to beat them."

USU will conclude its conference road schedule at UNT, a match it won't be overlooking.

"North Texas is going to come out strong," Sargent-McKnight said. "They always do at their home."

With first-place implications on the line, the Aggies are looking forward to sweeping on the road this weekend for a chance to prove they belong on top of their conference.

"This weekend we're going to come out strong and rise to the occasion," Currier said. "We know what we need to do."

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