By Nicole Skow
A week from winning its first road game in three years, Nevada returned to its old ways last weekend, losing back-to-back away matches against Boise State and Utah State.
Both the Broncos and Aggies swept the Wolf Pack (4-11, 1-4 Mountain West), dropping The Pack to ninth place in the conference — ahead of only Fresno State and San Jose State.
Against Boise State, the first and the third were back-and-forth affairs with a combined 13 ties and five lead changes in both. However, the middle set was all Broncos, who cruised to a 25-16 win.
Boise State’s hitters outperformed Nevada’s with two players reaching double-digits in hits while Nevada only had one player reach double digit hits in Madison Foley. The freshman Foley also had 12 digs to put up her third double- in the last four matches.
A bright spot for the Wolf Pack was its blocking, as Nevada outpaced the Broncos five-to-three in the category. The Wolf Pack’s Sam Willoughby had two solo blocks and one block assist to lead the game.
Nevada was less competitive against the Aggies, who kept the Silver and Blue in check all three sets. Utah State cruised, winning 25-20, 25-23 and 25-14.
Sophomore Madison Morell led Nevada with 12 kills, making her the only Nevada player in double digits, Morell chipped in five digs, too. Foley came back down to Earth with six kills and 12 digs.
The service line has proven to be the Wolf Pack’s enemy this season. Nevada combined for nine service errors in both games. Attacking errors were also costly as the Wolf Pack tallied 29 in both games.
Nevada returns home for the first time in three weeks on Thursday to host San Diego State, followed by UNLV on Saturday with Governor Series’ points up for grabs.
Wolf Pack senior Tessa Lea’ea will be tested during the homestand. On the heels on a 24-kill performance against Fresno State, the middle blocker was quiet last weekend, notching a combined 12 kills.
The Aztecs (11-7, 4-2 MW) are coming off a sweep over Air Force and a seesaw five-set victory against New Mexico. The Rebels (15-5, 3-2 MW) also swept New Mexico and beat Air Force in four sets.