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Utah State will open its longest homestand during the 2018 season, hosting the first of four opponents inside the Wayne Estes Center this week. The Aggies will open with Boise State on Tuesday, Oct. 16, followed by a match with Air Force on Thursday, Oct. 18.
Scouting the Boise State
Boise State is 11-8 on the year, 3-5 in the Mountain West and coming off back-to-back road losses at Colorado State and Wyoming. In fact, the Broncos have lost four of their last five matches.
BSU is hitting .209 (904-381-2,501) on the year, fifth in the MW, and is led individually by senior outside Sabryn Roberts with 277 kills, averaging 3.96 kills per set, third in the MW. Freshman Danielle Boss and junior Cassedi Simon have shared the setting duties for the Broncos this season, totaling 427 and 305 assists, respectively, and averaging 8.71 and 7.82 assists per set.
Defensively, freshman libero Jessie Bingham leads the BSU back row with 226 digs, averaging 3.23 per set. At the net, senior middle Morgan Hughes leads the Bronco block with 77, while freshman middle Jessica Donahue leads the team with 1.36 blocks per set, tied for second in the MW. Boise State opponents are hitting .171 (794-386-2,380) against the Broncos this season.
Head coach Shawn Garus is in his 10th season at the helm in Boise, leading the Broncos to an overall mark of 171-129 during his tenure.
Scouting the Falcons
Air Force is 13-8 on the year, including a 3-4 mark in the Mountain West. The Falcons picked up a 3-2 victory over Nevada in their last match, snapping a four-match losing streak.
AFA is hitting .203 (1,076-475-2,957) during the year and is led individually by two players averaging better than three kills per set in senior outside Elizabeth Pennington (3.15 kps) and senior outside Abigail Miksch (3.11 kps). Sophomore Andi Ahlers and senior Shanleigh Conlan have shared the setting duties this season, averaging 5.32 and 5.29 assists per set.
Defensively, senior libero Sarah Hellman and junior outside Denise Ssozi have totaled 216 and 215 total digs, respectively, while sophomore libero Alex King leads the team with 2.79 digs per set. Sophomore middle Kathleen Medill leads the Falcons at the net with 78 total blocks, averaging 0.93 per set. Opponents are hitting .170 (964-465-2,930) against the Falcons this season, which ranks second in the MW.
Head coach Marc Swindle is in his third season as the head coach at Air Force, after serving as an assistant with the program the previous six seasons.
All DuBose with Air Force
Utah State and Air Force have met nine times with the Aggies holding a 7-2 advantage over the Falcons. USU head coach Grayson DuBose has led the Aggies in every match in the series.
Service Ace Streak
Utah State has recorded at least one service ace in each of the last 78 matches, dating back to the 2016 season.
Setter Digs
Senior setter Kassidy Johnson is second on the team this season with 213 digs. The performance marks the first time a setter has eclipsed 200 digs since the 2014 season.
