Aug. 21, 2006
LOGAN, Utah -
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Utah State will begin its 30th season of collegiate volleyball in 2006 with an overall record of 486-577-8 (.458). The Aggies have reached the NCAA Tournament three times in school history (2000, 2001, 2005), advancing to the second round in 2000 and 2001. USU has produced nine All-American's in its history, one academic All-American, and a national championship in 1978, followed by a runner-up finish in 1979. Utah State has also had two players play professionally in Elaine Roque and Karolyn Kirby, who was inducted into the International Volleyball Hall of Fame in 2004.
THIS WEEK
Utah State will begin the 2006 season in Albuquerque, N.M., at the Hilton Albuquerque Classic hosted by the University of New Mexico. USU will open the tournament against the host Lobos on Friday at 7 p.m., and will then play two matches on Saturday against Stephen F. Austin at 9:30 a.m., and against UC Riverside at 4:30 p.m.
LOOKING AT UTAH STATE
Utah State returns two starters, plus its libero, from the 2005 season as it went 21-13 overall, finished in second-place in its inaugural season in the Western Athletic Conference with an 11-5 league record, and advanced to its third NCAA Tournament in the last seven years. Overall, Utah State returns just five letterwinners from the 2005 season, and also has a new head coach in Grayson DuBose. USU's returning starters are senior libero Kelsi Peterson, and junior outside hitters Beth Hodge and Amanda (Orgill) Nielson. Hodge was named to the Big West Conference all-freshman in 2003, while Nielson was named to the league's all-freshman team in 2004.
SERIES HISTORY
Utah State is 9-11 all-time against New Mexico, but hasn't played the Lobos since the 1989 season when both teams were members of the High Country Athletic Conference. Another former league foe that Utah State will play this weekend is UC Riverside of the Big West Conference, as the Aggies are 8-4 all-time against the Highlanders. Utah State and Stephen F. Austin will be playing for the first-time ever this weekend.
SEASON OPENERS
Utah State is 14-16 all-time in season openers, which includes a three-game win against Fordham to start the 2005 campaign.
UTAH STATE IN TOURNAMENT PLAY
Utah State is 22-20 (.524) in regular season tournaments over the last six years, which includes a 19-9 record against neutral court opponents.
NEXT WEEK
Utah State will travel to Northridge, Calif., to compete in the Fremont Loan and Investment Invitational as the Aggies will play Oregon on Sat., Sept. 2 at noon, and will then face the host Matadors that evening at 8 p.m. (MT).
SCOUTING NEW MEXICO
The University of New Mexico, located in Albuquerque, N.M., returns three starters and eight letterwinners from last year's team that went 14-14 overall and finished in seventh-place in the Mountain West Conference with a 6-10 league record. The Lobos are picked to finish in seventh-place in the Mountain West in 2006 according to the league's coaches.
UTAH STATE-NEW MEXICO CONNECTIONS
First-year Utah State head coach Grayson DuBose spent the 2001 season as an assistant coach at the University of New Mexico under then head coach Tom Peterson.
SCOUTING STEPHEN F. AUSTIN
Stephen F. Austin, which is located in Nacogdoches, Texas, returns six starters and eight letterwinners from last year's team that went 28-3 on the season, and finished in first-place in the Southland Conference with a perfect 19-0 record. The Ladyjacks are once again favored to win the Soutland Conference in 2006 according to the league's coaches, while five players were named to the conference's preseason team.
SCOUTING UC RIVERSIDE
UC Riverside, located in Riverside, Calif., returns four starters and 10 letterwinners from last year's team that went 16-11 overall and finished in sixth-place in the Big West Conference with a 4-10 league record. The Highlanders are picked to finish in eighth-place in the Big West in 2006 according to the league's coaches.
PETERSON HOLDS CAREER DIGS RECORD AT UTAH STATE
Senior libero Kelsi Peterson is Utah State's career leader in digs with 1,077. She also holds the school's single-season record with 510 digs set during the 2005 season. Those 510 digs (3.78 dpg) were the second-most in the Western Athletic Conference in 2005, while 3.78 digs per game average ranked seventh in the league.
HODGE LOOKING TO BUILD ON SOLID SOPHOMORE SEASON
Junior outside hitter Beth Hodge returned from a variety of injuries to have an outstanding sophomore season for Utah State as she finished second on the team with 358 kills and 327 digs, and third on the team with 27 service aces. In fact, those 327 digs rank sixth all-time on USU's single-season charts.
OSTERLOH MUST REDSHIRT IN 2006
Junior outside hitter Melissa Osterloh (Sandy, Utah) will have to redshirt during the 2006 season after transferring from Portland State University, where she earned Big Sky Conference all-tournament team honors in 2004.
UTAH STATE HAS A LOT TO REPLACE IN 2006
With just two starters, and its libero returning from the 2005 season, it's obvious that Utah State lost a lot of production from its NCAA Tournament team. The following is a breakdown of what USU returns heading into the 2006 campaign.
Statistical BreakdownKills (595/2,113) 28.2%Assists (151/1,942) 7.8%Digs (1,048/2,041) 51.3%Service Aces (91/170) 53.5%Blocks (187/379) 49.3%
QUOTING COACH DUBOSE
On the first two weeks of practice ... "Practice has gone pretty well so far. We are learning new systems and trying out some new things. Overall, things have been pretty consistent thus far."
On starting the season this weekend ... "It's exciting to go and play. We've been playing against ourselves a bunch, so it will be a nice gauge for us to go and play against good teams in New Mexico, Stephen F. Austin, and UC Riverside. It will be a nice challenge for our team to go and face some other opponents."
HEAD COACH Grayson DuBose
Grayson DuBose enters his first season as a head volleyball coach after being named Utah State's new coach on March 27, 2006. DuBose (pronounced Do-Boz), a former assistant coach at Utah State from 1999-2000, has spent the last four seasons as an assistant on Brigham Young's men's volleyball team. He replaces Burt Fuller, who resigned in February after posting an 82-70 record in five years, including two trips to the NCAA Tournament. DuBose began his collegiate coaching career at Utah State from 1999-2000 as an assistant to Tom Peterson. During that time, the Aggies won the Eastern Division of the Big West Conference in 1999, and advanced to the school's first-ever NCAA Tournament in 2000, defeating Missouri in the first round. USU finished the 2000 season ranked 22nd in the country, the program's first-ever top-25 ranking. In his four seasons at Brigham Young, DuBose helped lead the Cougar's men's program to a 90-30 (.750) record, including a National Championship in 2004 and a second-place finish at the 2003 NCAA Tournament. DuBose began his coaching career as an assistant for Brighton High School in Sandy, Utah from 1997-98, and also assisted with the Cache Valley Juniors and the Mountain West Volleyball Club during that time period. Following his two-year stint at Utah State, DuBose spent one year as an assistant to Peterson at the University of New Mexico, working with the women's program, before following Peterson to Brigham Young. DuBose played two years of collegiate volleyball at Golden West Community College in Huntington Beach, Calif., after graduating from Edision High School in Huntington Beach where he earned all-county honors his senior season. DuBose graduated from Brigham Young University with a degree in history in 1993 and then received his teaching certificate from Utah State University in 1995. He and his wife Lenonnie have three children, Kline (8), Cassandra (6), and Jackson (2).
Year School Overall Conf. NCAA2006 Utah State 0-0 (.000) 0-0
PRESEASON COACHES' POLL
Utah State is picked to finish eighth in the Western Athletic Conference according to the league's coaches.
1. Hawai'i (8) 642. New Mexico State (1) 573. Nevada 484. Idaho 435. San Jose State 346. Fresno State 267. Boise State 228. UTAH STATE 209. Louisiana Tech 10
