Nov. 2, 2008

LOGAN, Utah -

Complete Release in PDF Format

WEEKLY AGGIE UPDATE - NOVEMBER 2, 2008

CROSS COUNTRY
Contact: Jackie Banda - (435) 797-8584

Next Week
Sat., Nov. 15--- at NCAA Regional, Fort Collins, Colo., 10 a.m.

• Utah State's men's and women's cross country teams will return to action on Saturday, Nov. 15 when it travels to Fort Collins, Colo., to compete in the 2008 NCAA Regional.

Last Week
Women, 1st/9 --- at WAC Championships
Men, 1st/7 --- at WAC Championships

• Utah State made it a clean sweep at the 2008 WAC Cross Country Championships on Saturday as both its men and women won team titles. Overall, it is the fourth-straight WAC Championship for the Aggie men and the eighth team title in the last 17 years, while the USU women won their second WAC Championship in the last three years and third-ever team title. Junior Jason Holt led Utah State on the men's side as he finished first overall with a time of 25:34.80 to earn WAC Male Athlete of the Year honors, while senior Ashley Johnson finished third overall on the women's side with a time of 18:29.80. Head Coach Gregg Gensel was also honored by the WAC, as he was named the conference's coach of the year on both the men's and women's side. Along with Holt, Utah State had two other runners earn first-team all-conference honors as senior Ben Kessen finished third overall with a time of 25:44.80, and junior Steven Strickland placed seventh in 26:13.80. Other finishers on the men's side include freshmen Daniel Howell and Brian McKenna who placed 16th (26:53.80) and 20th (27:09.30), respectively, while sophomore Hunter Nelson was 23rd (27:13.90), senior Heath Wing was 26th (27:24.40), sophomore Chio Lopez was 33rd (27:53.50), and sophomore Nick Bolinder was 37th (27:58.50). On the women's side, Utah State had five of the top 15 finishers as Kim Quinn, Caroline Berry, Ruth Hilton and Alicia Holt all earned second-team all-WAC honors, joining Johnson who earned first-team all-conference accolades. Quinn finished ninth overall with a time of 18:55.30, while Berry placed 10th in 18:57.80. Hilton was 11th with a time of 18:58.30, and Holt placed 15th with a time of 19:04.80. Other Aggie women to compete included freshman Jessie Chugg who placed 22nd (19:18.00), senior Vanessa Gledhill who finished 27th (19:29.80), and junior Erin Stratton who placed 43rd (20:19.10).

WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
Contact: Kara Irving - (435) 797-1361

This Week
Mon., Nov. 3 --- MONTANA TECH (Ex.), 7 p.m.
Fri., Nov. 7 --- Dixie State (Ex.), 7 p.m.

• Utah State's women's basketball team will begin its 2008-09 season on Monday, Nov. 3 when it hosts Montana Tech in an exhibition game at 7 p.m. in the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum. USU will then play its final exhibition game of the season on Friday, Nov. 7 against Dixie State also at 7 p.m. Head coach Raegan Pebley and the Aggies have two starters among nine letterwinners returning from last season's squad that posted an 9-20 overall record and 5-11 in the WAC in senior guard Danyelle Snelgro and senior center Ndoumbe Diop. Utah State is picked to finish sixth in the Western Athletic Conference this year according to the league's coaches, while Snelgro was voted to the league's preseason second-team.

FOOTBALL
Contact: Zach Fisher - (435) 797-2066

This Week
Sat., Nov. 8 --- at #9 Boise State, 12 p.m.

• Utah State (2-7, 2-3) continues Western Athletic Conference action this weekend at No. 9 Boise State (8-0, 4-0) on Saturday, Nov. 8 at 12 p.m. (MT). The game will be broadcast live on KJZZ-TV. USU is 4-10 all-time against the Broncos, which includes a 2-5 record on the road.

Last Week
W, 30-14 --- HAWAI'I

• Behind sophomore QB Diondre Borel's 310 yards of total offense and some pivotal turnovers by the defense, Utah State knocked off defending WAC champion Hawai'i, 30-14, on Saturday. Borel passed for 223 yards on a 14-of-19 effort with two TD's, while rushing for 87 yards on 14 carries. The USU defense and special teams played a huge role in the Aggies' success, blocking two field goals, recovering a fumble inside the five, as well as forcing a fumble on a kickoff return following USU's final score. Utah State amassed 368 yards of total offense, as the Aggies had 145 rushing yards to go with the 223 passing yards. UH had 374 total offensive yards with 141 rushing and two different QB's combining for 233 yards. Sophomore PK/P Peter Caldwell made all three of his field goal attempts as well as all three extra points. The Aggies scored first on a 34-yard field goal from Caldwell. On the Warriors' ensuing possession, junior LB Paul Igboeli ended the drive by blocking the field goal. Early in the second quarter, senior CB Roy Hurst sped around the edge to block UH's next field goal attempt. USU went up 10-0 on the very next play on a 62-yard scoring strike from Borel to junior WR Nnamdi Gwacham. On its very next possession, UH scored on a 34-yard pass from starting QB Greg Alexander to Michael Washington to pull within, 10-7. That would be the closest the Warriors would get as Caldwell booted another 34-yard field goal on the first half's final play to send USU into intermission with a 13-7 lead. After Igboeli's fumble recovery denied Hawai'i on its opening third-quarter drive, USU scored the stanza's only points with a 23-yard scoring toss from Borel to redshirt-freshman RB Robert Turbin. Hawai'i closed to 20-14 with seven minutes remaining in the game on a 9-yard run by Alexander, but USU tacked on a 21-yard Caldwell field goal to take a 23-14 advantage, and added another score on a 6-yard TD run by Turbin to make the final margin, 30-14.

SOCCER
Contact: Kara Irving - (435) 797-1361

This Week
Fri., Nov. 7 --- vs. Boise St. or San Jose St., at WAC Tournament, Reno, Nev., 4 p.m.

• Utah State's women's soccer team (12-7-1, 7-0-0) will be the top seed at the 2008 WAC Tournament, held in Reno, Nev., this weekend. USU will open the tournament on Friday, Nov. 7 at 4 p.m. (MT) against the winner of Boise State vs. San Jose State match. The championship match will be held on Sunday, Nov. 9 at 2 p.m. (MT).

Last Week
W, 1-0--- at Louisiana Tech

• Utah State soccer became the first WAC team since SMU in 2001 to go undefeated in league play when it defeated Louisiana Tech 1-0 in Ruston on Friday. Sophomore forward Lauren Hansen provided the scoring for USU with a goal in the 52nd minute, while senior Ali Griffin posted four saves for her sixth shutout of the season.

MEN'S BASKETBALL
Contact: Doug Hoffman - (435) 797-3714

This Week
Sat., Nov. 8 --- CONCORDIA UNIVERSITY (Ex.), 7 p.m.

• Utah State's men's basketball team will play its final exhibition game of the preseason as it hosts Concordia University on Saturday, Nov. 8 at 7 p.m., in the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum. The Stingers are located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.

Last Week
W 73-46 --- NORTHWEST NAZARENE (Ex.)

• Sophomore forward Tai Wesley scored 18 points and senior forward Gary Wilkinson added 13 points to lead Utah State's men's basketball team to a 73-46 exhibition win against Division II Northwest Nazarene in front of 7,706 Dee Glen Smith Spectrum fans Friday night. Wesley, who was 7-of-10 from the field, added four assists in 21 minutes, while Wilkinson pulled down a game-high eight rebounds in 20 minutes. Sophomore guard Tyler Newbold added nine points, while junior guard Jared Quayle had eight points and seven rebounds in his first game in Aggie Blue. Utah State broke open a close game midway through the first-half as it held Northwest Nazarene scoreless for nearly eight minutes to take a 32-15 lead with just under six minutes to play. The Crusaders finished the half on a 7-0 run to make the score 32-22 at the break. Wilkinson led Utah State with 10 first-half points as the Aggies shot 44.4 percent from the field (12-27) and held Northwest Nazarene to 32.1 percent shooting (9-28). Wesley scored 12 of his points in the second-half, including seven in a row for Utah State as part of a 17-4 run to extend its margin to 25 at 62-37 with just over five minutes to play in the game. Sophomore forward Matt Formisano scored the final two points for USU with :27 seconds left on a layup to give the home team its largest lead of the game at 73-46. Utah State finished the game by shooting 47.2 percent from the field (25-53) and limited Northwest Nazarene to 32.7 percent shooting (18-55). USU was also 21-26 (.808) from the free throw line and 2-12 (.167) from three-point range, while NNU made 6-of-11 charity tosses and 4-of-16 three-point attempts (.250). Utah State also out-rebounded the Crusaders, 44-28, including a 33-19 advantage on the defensive glass. USU finished the game with 20 assists and 18 turnovers, while NNU had 10 assists and 18 turnovers as well.

VOLLEYBALL
Contact: Doug Hoffman - (435) 797-3714

This Week
Thur., Nov. 6 --- SAN JOSE STATE, 7 p.m.

• Utah State (9-15, 7-6) will play its final home match of the season on Thursday, Nov. 6 when it hosts San Jose State (10-14, 5-7) at 7 p.m. in the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum. Prior to the match, USU will honor its four seniors in Rebecca Anderson, Heather Hillier, Kris Hymas, and Melissa Osterloh. USU is 7-15-1 all-time against the Spartans.

Last Week
W, 3-2 --- IDAHO
L, 0-3 --- at #8 Hawai'i

• Utah State posted a 1-1 WAC record last week with a five-set win at home against Idaho (23-25, 25-22, 18-25, 25-23, 15-11) and a three-set loss at No. 8 Hawai'i (25-19, 25-14, 25-13). Against the Vandals, senior outside hitter Melissa Osterloh recorded a season-high 29 kills, including 17 in the final two sets. Overall, Osterloh hit .317 (29-9-63) in the match, and added four service aces and 10 digs to post her fifth double-double of the season, including her third in the last four matches. Sophomore libero Christine Morrill added 24 digs for USU, while freshman outside hitter Emily Kortsen notched a career-high 13 kills and hit .312 (13-3-32). Senior setter Heather Hillier also played well for USU as she had 11 digs. Idaho out-hit USU, .206 to .179 in the match. Against the Rainbow Wahine, Osterloh had a team-high six kills and Morrill added nine digs. UH hit .458 in the match and held the Aggies to a . 159 hitting percentage.