Complete Release

The 2015 Utah State volleyball season didn't go quite as hoped when the Aggies opened the campaign with a young squad and just two returning starters. However, despite the 6-26 overall mark and 2-16 ledger in the Mountain West, USU did provide some highlights during the year.

Utah State opened the 2015 season at the Texas Tech Invitational, falling to the Red Raiders in the tournament opener and then again to Houston in the next match. The loss to the Cougars wasn't without individual successes as sophomore transfer Lauren Anderson recorded a career-high nine kills, junior outside Kaylie Kamalu recorded a double-double with 10 kills and 11 digs and junior setter Erica Moscoso tallied another double-double with 34 assists and 13 digs. The Aggies wrapped up the tournament with their first victory of the year, a 3-0 win over Louisiana-Lafayette, where Kamalu led the team with her second straight double-double (14 kills, 10 digs).

Freshman outside Simone Gibeau jumped onto the scene in the next match against Utah, recording a career-high 11 kills, one of three Aggies with double-digit kills against the Utes, joining Kamalu with 15 and sophomore outside Rachel Gale with 12. However, the totals were not enough in the 3-1 defeat.

The Aggies bounced back with a 3-1 win over Middle Tennessee State to open the USU-hosted Gossner Invitational. However, Utah State fell, 3-1, in its next match against Southern Utah, despite double-doubles by freshman setter Kassidy Johnson (40 assists, 11 digs) and Gale (17 kills, 13 digs). The loss was followed by four more for Utah State until four Aggies put together career numbers in a 3-2 win over Utah Valley. Johnson logged a career-high 54 assists and directed outside hitters Gale and Kamalu to 27 and 19 kills, respectively, during the match. All three finished with double-doubles, coupling 11, 12 and 11 digs, respectively, to their assist and dig totals. Junior libero Hannah Gleason also kept the ball in play throughout the contest with a career-high 28 digs.

Following two more losses, Kamalu helped the Aggies break the streak with a season-high 20 kills against Eastern Kentucky, helping USU to a 3-1 win. Sophomore middle Hannah Smith paced the block during the match, collecting five, while freshman defensive specialist Tasia Taylor recorded a season-high 13 digs.

Sophomore right side Kayla DeCoursey returned from an injury and played in her first match of the year at Colorado State and Moscoso returned to the lineup at Wyoming after missing 11 matches due to injury. Despite the roster additions, USU opened its Mountain West slate with five straight losses before picking up a 3-0 sweep against San José State. Redshirt sophomore middle Carly Lenzen had her best outing against the Spartans, hitting a season-best .562 with 10 kills on 16 swings and only one error.

SJSU avenged the loss almost a month later, handing the Aggies their seventh loss in a row before Utah State was able to snap out of the funk with a 3-1 victory over Nevada. Moscoso had her best showing of the season against the Wolf Pack, collecting 51 assists and guided Gale and Kamalu to 24 and 16 kills, respectively. The Aggies were also strong on the back row with Gleason and sophomore defensive specialist Maddie Day recording double-digit digs, with 23 and a career-high 12, respectively.

Utah State finished the season with four more losses, but saw Gleason and Gale climb in the single-season record books. Gleason wrapped up her season with 506 digs, the fifth-most in a single season in school history and Gale logged 1,186 attempts during the year, sixth-most in a single season.

Utah State will have a wealth of experience coming back in 2016 with the Aggies anticipated to have 96.8 percent of their kills (1,248/1,289), 97.0 percent of their attacks (3,820/3,938), 99.8 percent of their assists (1,204/1,206) and 83.1 percent of their blocks (171.5/206.5) set to return for next season.