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After Saturday’s five-set win over Nevada, the USU women’s volleyball team will continue their four-game homestand against Louisiana Tech, Thursday at 7 p.m in the Spectrum. The Aggies are currently in third place in the Western Athletic Conference, with a 2-1 record in conference play and 4-10 overall this season. After losing their first eight games of the season, USU is finally warming up, winning four of its last six matches. Louisiana Tech is 0-3 in the WAC and 2-8 overall. LTU is led by junior middle blocker KC Clayton, who is averag-ing 2.00 kills and 1.29 blocks per set while hitting .188. Louisiana Tech returns three starters and eight letterwin-ners from last season’s team,

which finished ninth in the WAC with a 1-15 conference record. LTU is led by first-year head coach Matt Sonnichsen, who has an overall coaching record of 140-119 in 10 seasons. USU is 6-0 all-time against Louisiana, winning both matches in three sets last sea-son. The Aggies are led by senior outside hitter Melissa Osterloh, who is averaging 3.7 kills, 1.78 digs and 4.35 points per set this season. Despite having somewhat of an off night against Nevada, USU head coach Grayson DuBose is not worried about Osterloh. “She’s been so good for so long and had to carry such a big role on our team, I think it’s just an anomaly more than anything else,” DuBose said, referring to her struggles

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WednesdaySportsOct. 1, 2008Page 8

TouchBase

Aggie golf takes ninth at invite

USU’s Toph Peterson fin-ished 23rd individually with a 13-over par 229 to help Utah State’s men’s golf team finish in ninth-place out of 12 teams at the Bob Hurley Auto Oral Roberts Shootout held Monday and Tuesday. USU finished with a team score of 926 with rounds of 312, 311 and 303. In three tournaments this fall, Utah State has finished in the top 10 each time with a seventh-place finish, a ninth-place finish and a 10th-place finish. Texas State won the team title with a 10-over par 874 (293-290-291) as the Bobcats Corey Roberson took top individual honors with a four-under 212 (68-69-75), and teammate Jeff Gerlich tied for third with a two-over 218 (75-71-72).

By USU ATHLETICS

Steelers take down Ravens in overtime PITTSBURGH (AP) – The Pittsburgh Steelers were down by 10 points, and down to their fourth and last running back. Somehow, they found an offense that was missing for most of three quarters and a way to win a game that easily could have been lost. Jeff Reed kicked a 46-yard field goal in overtime and the Steelers withstood two season-ending injuries to key players and a bad first half to outlast the Ravens 23-20 on Monday night. Reed’s third field goal – and his seventh career game-winner – ended a back-and-forth game in which the Steelers (3-1) were down 13-3 late in the third quarter, rallied but couldn’t hold a seven-point lead, then won despite being without their top three running backs. “We lost a lot of guys,” quarterback Ben Roethlisberger said. “I was more emotional, more vocal than I’ve ever been at halftime. I screamed at our offense. We were terrible in the first half. Not that we were great in the second.”

Men’s soccer

Ca$hing in on rivalsPrices for BYU, Utah highest ever

Ags go 1-1 at homeBy PAUL KELLEystaff writer

The USU men’s soccer team went 1-1 over the week-end. USU lost 6-3 to BYU-Idaho on Friday, and beat the Idaho State Bengals 5-2 Saturday. BYU-Idaho took an early lead and USU was not able to overcome it. “They came out quick and got a couple goals real early,” USU’s Dave Firmage said. USU was able to score two goals in the first half, to make the score 2-2 at the break. The Aggies added one more goal in the second half, and BYU-Idaho scored four. The final score was 6-3 for BYU-Idaho. “We were just playing hard,” Firmage said. “We just have a few offensive things we need to work on, a few team chemistry things we need to work on.” In Saturday’s game USU came out fast. Dasheek Akwenye scored the first goal on a break-away, 15 seconds into the game. USU scored again when Billy Harlow kicked a goal from midfield to give the Aggies a 2-0 lead. The Bengal’s responded scoring two quick goals, to make it 2-2. Greg Larsen scored for the Aggies just before half to make it 3-2 at the break. The Aggies seemed to be getting things worked out in the second half. The Bengal’s did not score for the rest of the game, while the Aggies added two more goals – both

WoMen’s volleyball

USU JUNIOR OUTSIDE HITTER JESSALYN PAYNE (4) and senior middle blocker Rebecca Anderson (9) join together to get a block Saturday night in the Spectrum against Nevada. Cody GoChnour photo

USU’S DASHEEk AkwENYE fIgHTS fOR THE bALL against an Idaho State defender Saturday at Tower Field. The Aggies beat the Bengals, 5-2, after falling 6-3 to BYU-Idaho on Friday. The games were the first of the season for USU. The team travels to take on Rocky Mt. Rival Friday at 6 p.m. Saturday the Aggies host St. George at 4 p.m. at Tower Field. CAMEron PETErSon photo

Aggies hosting WAC’s worstBy JOE WANGEMANNsports senior writer

-See AGS, page 9

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UsU football

Ticket prices for Friday’s football game against BYU, as well as the game against Utah on Sept. 13, are the high-est they have ever been at USU, said Ticket Operations Manager Stephanie Plueard. Last year the highest ticket price for a football game was $35, which was for reserved seats on the west side of Romney Stadium. Tickets for Friday’s game are $50 for the same seats. This is not the first time ticket prices have been raised for premium games. It is, however, the highest price increase for a specific game. Last year, ticket prices were raised $5 for the Boise State game. Prices were also raised by $5 two years ago for the home game against Utah. The idea of raising prices for high-profile games is not one practiced only at USU. According to the University of Utah and BYU ticket offices, both schools raise their ticket prices for high-profile games. USU has fairly reasonable priced tickets compared to other schools in

the state and in the WAC. According to WAC school Fresno State’s ticket office, they had tickets for as much as $80 for their home game against Wisconsin. Regular ticket prices for a Fresno State game range from $25 to $50. According to Boise State’s ticket

office, they do not raise their ticket prices for certain games. However, prices range from $28 to $46 per ticket. Tickets for the Utah and BYU games this year at Romney Stadium go for $30 to $50 per person. Ticket prices for football games are

usually set in the spring for the upcom-ing season. The prices go through com-mittees and boards, including a senior staff committee and the Big Blue Board

TIckET PRIcES fOR THIS SEASON’S HOmE gAmES against BYU and Utah are the most expensive ticket prices in USU football history. General admission seats are $30 and the game seat price is $50. dEBrA hAWKInS photo illustration

By PAUL KELLEystaff writer

-See CA$H, page 9

-See HOME, page 9

<AP> FBC TOP 25 092808: The Top 25 teams in the Associated Press college football poll; 1c x 6 3/4 inches; with BC-FBC--T25-College FB Poll; ED; ETA 4 p.m. <AP>

AP

The Top 25 in The Associated Press’ college football poll through Sept. 27 (first-place votes):RANK TEAM W-L POINTS PV 1. Oklahoma (43) 4-0 1,599 2 2. Alabama (21) 5-0 1,565 8 3. LSU 4-0 1,466 5 4. Missouri (1) 4-0 1,453 6 5. Texas 4-0 1,362 7 6. Penn St. 5-0 1,252 12 7. Texas Tech 4-0 1,105 10 8. BYU 4-0 1,098 11 9. Southern Cal 2-1 1,087 1 10. South Florida 5-0 1,035 13 11. Georgia 4-1 1,018 3 12. Florida 3-1 914 4 13. Auburn 4-1 860 15 14. Ohio St. 4-1 829 14 15. Utah 5-0 713 17 16. Kansas 3-1 650 18 17. Boise St. 3-0 549 19 18. Wisconsin 3-1 520 9 19. Vanderbilt 4-0 459 21 20. Virginia Tech 4-1 290 – 21. Oklahoma St. 4-0 277 – 22. Fresno St. 3-1 232 25 23. Oregon 4-1 199 – 24. Connecticut 5-0 126 – 25. Wake Forest 3-1 107 16Others receiving votes: Maryland 46, Michigan St. 42, Kentucky 40, Ball St. 38, Northwestern 32, Tulsa 32, TCU 30, Illinois 24, North Carolina 21, Florida St. 14, Mississippi 13, Georgia Tech 10, California 5, Nebraska 5, Boston College 3, Oregon St. 3, Colorado 2.

AP

The Top 25 in The Associated Press’ college football poll through Sept. 27 (first-place votes):RANK TEAM W-L POINTS PV 1. Oklahoma (43) 4-0 1,599 2 2. Alabama (21) 5-0 1,565 8 3. LSU 4-0 1,466 5 4. Missouri (1) 4-0 1,453 6 5. Texas 4-0 1,362 7 6. Penn St. 5-0 1,252 12 7. Texas Tech 4-0 1,105 10 8. BYU 4-0 1,098 11 9. Southern Cal 2-1 1,087 1 10. South Florida 5-0 1,035 13 11. Georgia 4-1 1,018 3 12. Florida 3-1 914 4 13. Auburn 4-1 860 15 14. Ohio St. 4-1 829 14 15. Utah 5-0 713 17 16. Kansas 3-1 650 18 17. Boise St. 3-0 549 19 18. Wisconsin 3-1 520 9 19. Vanderbilt 4-0 459 21 20. Virginia Tech 4-1 290 – 21. Oklahoma St. 4-0 277 – 22. Fresno St. 3-1 232 25 23. Oregon 4-1 199 – 24. Connecticut 5-0 126 – 25. Wake Forest 3-1 107 16Others receiving votes: Maryland 46, Michigan St. 42, Kentucky 40, Ball St. 38, Northwestern 32, Tulsa 32, TCU 30, Illinois 24, North Carolina 21, Florida St. 14, Mississippi 13, Georgia Tech 10, California 5, Nebraska 5, Boston College 3, Oregon St. 3, Colorado 2.

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