Wildcats fall to Aggies in five-set heartbreaker

OGDEN - The Wildcat volleyball team dropped a five-set heartbreaker to the Utah State Aggies. After securing both the first and second sets, Utah State fought back to secure a reverse sweep 3-2.

SET 1 | The first set was competitive between the Wildcats and Aggies. Two big blocks by Rose Moore plus another by the duo of Ashley Gneiting and Saane Munyer took the lead for the 'Cats 12-11. Running with that Weber State took the set 25-18. WSU hit .267 in the first set compared to their opponents .083.

SET 2 | Carrying that winning momentum into the second set, Weber State was up 5-1. Utah State chipped away at that lead until they were able to tie up the set 12-12. Five points then made by the Wildcats forced Utah State to a timeout at 18-15. A Gneiting kill and service ace following the timeout improved WSU's lead. With one point to go, a service error by the Aggies gave the set to Weber State 25-21.

SET 3 | The Aggie offense stepped up and commanded the third set 25-16.

SET 4 | Despite the Wildcats best efforts, the squad was unable to climb back from a six point deficit and the set ended 25-17 in favor of the blue and white forcing the match to a fifth set.

SET 5 | Weber State struggled in the fifth, falling behind by six. However, the comeback 'Cats battled and racked together a string of points that allowed them to trail the Aggies by one and then tie the set 12-12. With the match on the line the Weber State squad was not enough as three kills by USU earned them the reverse sweep.

Freshman Victoria Marthaler made her mark on the night totaling 11 kills. Gneiting recorded a new single game high of 19 kills. As a team WSU racked up 14 blocks. The squad had an attack percentage of .219 compared to the Aggies .266.

"We played better than we did last night," said head coach Jeremiah Larsen. "We responded nicely, but every time we take a couple steps forward, we take a step back. We need to find that level of consistency and make sure that it goes over a longer period of time."

"I was happy with Victoria coming in, I thought she did a great job hitting. Rose came out of her shell a bit and did a nice job. Overall, I thought we passed really well in sets one and two but in three and four we crashed."

"Starting conference play next week will be a grind, the Big Sky is good. It's going to be hard for us to win matches. Hopefully we just keep on getting better and make a run at the end of the season."

COMING UP
Weber State travels to Flagstaff, AZ for the first Big Sky Conference match of the season against Northern Arizona on Wednesday, September 25. First serve is scheduled for 6:30 p.m.

HOW TO FOLLOW
All Big Sky and home games will be streamed via ESPN+. Live stats can be found at WeberStateSports.com. To stay up to date with the Wildcat volleyball team, follow them on Instagram and X. You can purchase tickets here.

Next Event

Team Stats

Ashley Gneiting

Victoria Marthaler

Rose Moore

Liana Woodley

Players Mentioned

Ashley Gneiting

Victoria Marthaler

Rose Moore

Saane Munyer

Weber State University Athletics