Dec. 3, 2001
LOGAN, Utah - Junior forward Desmond Penigar was named Utah State Athlete of the Week Monday. The award is voted on by a local media panel.
Penigar led Utah State to a pair of home wins this past week, including the Aggies' first win over BYU in four years. Penigar had a monster game against the Cougars with season highs in points (34), rebounds (9), assists (2), steals (1) and minutes played (37). Against BYU, Penigar was 11 of 20 from the field, two of five from three-point range, and 10 of 10 from the free-throw line. The 34 points scored is the most by an Aggie since Silas Mills scored 39 vs. Hawai'i-Hilo on Nov. 26, 1995.
Penigar also had a solid game against Idaho State with 20 points and seven rebounds. For the week, he averaged 27.0 points, eight rebounds and two assists in 34 minutes per game. Penigar is the first player in four years to score 20-plus points in three straight games for USU. Penigar has led USU to wins over Utah and BYU in the same year for the first time since the 1985-86 season.
The Aggies play Montana State Tuesday at 7:05 p.m. at the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum.
Nominees from other sports:
Football-David Fiefia (West Valley City, Utah) . . . Sophomore tailback David Fiefia had a career-high 116 yards on 16 carries leading to one touchdown against Fresno State Saturday. Prior to Saturday's game, Fiefia's season high was 42 yards rushing against Central Florida. Fiefia also recorded four catches for 19 yards.
Volleyball-Michelle Matheson (Moreno Valley, Calif.) . . . Senior middle blocker Michelle Matheson had an outstanding match in the first round of the NCAA Tournament versus No. 19 BYU as she led the Aggies to an improbable five-game win. Matheson tied her career-high with 20 kills against the Cougars and had a career-high nine blocks. She hit .447 in the match and added six digs. Against Utah, she hit .250 with nine kills and three blocks as USU lost in four games. For the weekend, Matheson hit .379 and averaged 3.22 kills had 1.33 blocks per game. Utah State has now won three of the last four matches with BYU. USU is the first team in 11 years to knock BYU out of the NCAA tournament in the first round.
