LOGAN, Utah – Utah State volleyball (0-7) will wrap up the tournament portion of its 2019 season at the Bay Area Invitational, co-hosted by San Francisco and Saint Mary's. The Aggies will open the weekend against the Dons (3-3) on Friday, Sept. 13, at 7 p.m. (MT). The following day, USU will play Cornell (2-1) and Saint Mary's (2-4) at noon and 8 p.m., respectively.
Each match of the Bay Area Invitational will be streamed live online. The match at San Francisco will be broadcast on the WCC Network, while the contests played at Saint Mary's will be streamed by Stadium. Live stats will also be available for each contest, while social media updates will be provided. Links to each option will be posted on the Utah State volleyball social media pages each day of the tournament.
San Francisco opens the weekend with a 3-3 record, going 2-1 in its home tournament with wins over Purdue Fort Wayne (3-1) and UC Riverside (3-2), and a loss to Nevada (1-3). As a team, the Dons are hitting .242 (252-88-679), averaging 9.96 assists and 1.65 blocks per set. Senior outside hitter Kathya Garcia leads the USF attack, hitting .264 on the year while averaging 4.16 kills per set. Sophomore setter Ally Wada averages 9.79 assists per set. All-time, Utah State is 1-3 against San Francisco.
With just one tournament under its belt, Cornell has a 2-1 record, sweeping both Youngstown State and Niagara before falling to Hartford (2-3) in its home tournament. Overall, the Big Red is hitting .236 (18-57-386), led by senior middle blocker Jada Stackhouse, who is hitting .431, averaging 2.45 kills per set. Cornell is averaging 11.91 assists per set, led by freshman setter Emma Worthington with 6.80 assists per set. The team is also averaging 2.09 blocks per set, where Stackhouse has a team-high 11. Saturday will mark the first meeting between Utah State and Cornell. It is also just the second Ivy League opponent for USU in program history.
Saint Mary's opens the tournament with a 2-4 record. The Gaels are coming off a 1-2 record at Southern Utah's Thunderbird Classic, where they dropped five-set decisions to SUU and Boise State before ending the weekend in a 3-1 win over Middle Tennessee. Saint Mary's is hitting .183 (265-133-720) as a team, averaging 10.74 assists and 2.04 blocks per set. Redshirt senior middle blocker Aubrey Pitts is hitting a team-best .237, averaging 1.58 kills per set. Senior setter Alexsa Parker leads the team with 7.95 assists per set, while Pitts has a team-high 25 blocks on the season. Utah State is 0-7 all-time against Saint Mary's.
Utah State is hitting .110 (235-141-852) on the season, led by sophomore middle blocker Corinne Larsen, who is hitting .214 (38-13-117) . Senior setter Heidi Carpenter is averaging 7.12 assists per set, while junior middle Bailey Downing leads the Aggies on the block, tallying 35 this season.
Season tickets for the 2019 volleyball season are now on sale. General admission season ticket packages are available for $27, while all Utah State faculty and staff can buy a season ticket for $22. Single-match tickets for the season will be $6 for adults and $3 for youth. Tickets can be purchased through the USU Ticket Office in person, online, or over the phone at 1-888-USTATE-1 or (435) 797-0305.
Fans can follow the Aggie volleyball program on Twitter, @USUVolleyball, on Facebook at /USUVolleyball or on Instagram, @usuvolleyball. Aggie fans can also follow the Utah State athletic program on Twitter, @USUAthletics, Facebook at /USUAthletics and on Instagram, @USUAthletics.
-USU-
