Courtesy of Boise State Athletics – 

LAS VEGAS – Pagie Bartsch, Anabel Kotzakov and Kiersten Van Kirk combined for 38 kills and 43.5 points to lead Boise State past the Utah State Aggies 3-1 (25-19, 18-25, 25-20, 25-23) in the opening round of the Mountain West Championship in Las Vegas. The win improved the Broncos to 19-10 overall on the year and advanced them into Friday’s semifinal round.

Utah State scored the match’s first point before the Broncos rolled out to a 10-4 lead and were never really threatened after that. The Broncos led by as many as nine before winning it 25-19 on a Lilli Etter dump over the defense.

Set two was close until midway through the period when the Aggies surged past the Broncos. Tied at 16-16, Utah State closed the set on a 9-2 run to tie the match at 1-1.

The third set was another tightly contested period, with two lead changes and eight ties. The largest lead came at the end by five following a 4-0 Boise State run, which handed the Broncos a 25-20 victory.

In set four, the Broncos led nearly the entire way, maintaining a one to four-point advantage until late. The Aggies tied the set at 21, then took the lead at 22-21 and 23-22. Boise State regrouped and rallied on a 3-0 run to claim the set 25-23 and the match 3-1.

TOP BRONCOS

  • Paige Bartsch led the team with 14 kills while hitting .281. She also had two service aces, one block and a team-best 16.5 points.
  • Anabel Kotzakov hit .237 for 13 kills to go with 11 digs, one service ace, one block and 14.5 points.
  • Kiersten Van Kirk hit .391 for 11 kills and had three blocks for 12.5 points.
  • Kiki Remensperger had a team-high 21 assists and 12 digs, while Lilli Etter had 19 assists.
  • Bre Mitchell had team-highs for digs with 15 and service aces with five.  

NOTABLES

  • Paige Bartsch set the school’s Rally Scoring Era (since 2001) record for career service aces with two against the Aggies, giving her 137; that also moved her into sole possession of seventh all-time.
  • Bartsch’s 14 kills moved her to within one of tying for second on the all-time career kills list with 1,509.
  • Annie Kaminski’s three blocks today moved her into ninth place on the all-time career blocks list with 369.
  • Kiki Remensperger’s double-double was her 13th of the season (including two triple-doubles).
  • Anabel Kotzakov’s double-double was the third of the year and her second-straight match with one.
  • The Broncos recorded 11 service aces against Utah State, giving them 228 on the year, tying for the most in a season at Boise State during the Rally Scoring Era.

QUOTABLES

Shawn Garus, head coach

  • “This was a great win for the program, and I am proud of our balanced offensive effort. It was a team victory today.”
  • “I thought our serving played a big part today in every rotation, which got Utah State out of system offensively. I also think that our passing was really good, led by Bre (Mitchell), Anabel (Kotzakov) and Kiki (Remensperger).”