RENO, Nev. – The Nevada volleyball team moves to 8-7, 1-3 on the year after picking up its first conference win against the Utah State Aggies (3-12, 1-3) on Saturday, Sept. 29 in the Virginia Street Gym.
In the five set match the Pack won the first, third and fifth sets while the Aggies took the second and fourth. The scores looked like this, 25-23, 23-25, 25-23, 19-25 and 15-10.
Three different members of Nevada collected double-doubles on the day. Junior Jamila Minor had 20 kills with 10 digs, sophomore Kayla Afoa with 10 kills and 16 digs and junior Dalyn Burns with 40 assists and 10 digs.
Minor led the team with her kill number but junior Camryn Rocha had 16 kills on 35 total attacks for a .371 clip, leading the team in efficiency. Along with Rocha is redshirt freshman Hailey Maniglia who also had double digit kills with 11 and a .304 hitting percentage. Rounding off the offensive attack was junior Shiloh Peleras who has eight kills for herself and a .250 clip.
On the defense, senior Mo Maluotoga notched 20 digs to take the top mark on the team along with double digit digs from Afoa, Minor, Burns and Ryan Blackwood. Peleras not only had a great day offensively but also defensively where she tallied five block assists and a block solo to help the teams eight total.
Nevada won the first point of the first set and maintained its lead until late in the set. The Aggies had tied it up five different times but had not taken the lead until the 20th point. Utah State took over the lead but could not hold on as the Pack clinched the final two points off Aggie errors, 25-23.
The Pack dropped the second set to the Aggies, 25-23 but held Utah State to a .175 hitting percentage while recording a .205 with 15 kills in the set.
The third and fourth sets were just as close as the first two as the teams split, each taking one set. In the fifth and final set however, with back-to-back aces from Ashley Maki and then a third from Blackwood the Pack held on to take the final set and the match, 3-2.
Next up for the Pack is four straight road matches. First up is New Mexico on Oct. 4 with the match starting at 6 p.m. PT.
