BACK IN ACTION
Utah State volleyball (20-8, 12-4 MW) returns home this week for a pair of Mountain West matches. The Aggies will host league-leading Colorado State on Thursday, Nov. 18, at 7 p.m, before celebrating Senior Day by facing Wyoming on Saturday, Nov. 20, at noon.
 
FOLLOW ALONG
Both of this week's matches will be streamed live and for free via the Mountain West Network. Live stats will also be provided for both contests. Links to all options will be posted on the team's social media pages, and are all listed on the Utah State Athletics website.
 
OFF INTO THE SUNSET
The Aggies will be celebrating the careers of two seniors this weekend: Kristy Frank and Corinne Larsen. Frank transferred to Utah State prior to her junior season. In two years for USU, Frank has posted 339 kills with a .207 hitting percentage, also leading the Aggies in 2020 with 2.46 kills per set. Frank has also posted 284 digs, 54 blocks and 23 service aces playing for Utah State.
 
Larsen will graduate as a four-year letterwinner for Utah State, having played in 97 matches in her career as an Aggie. The middle blocker from Sandy, Utah ranks third all-time in total blocks at Utah State with 427 (and counting). Currently at .255, Larsen also slots into a tie for the eighth-best career hitting percentage (min. 1000 attempts) in program history. In addition, Larsen has recorded 626 kills, 84 service aces and 128 digs in her four-year career at USU.
 
HIGH MARKS
Now deep into the season, the Aggies are starting to match and surpass some of the high-water marks of some of the best Utah State volleyball seasons. The 20 overall wins and 12 conference wins are the most in a season since 2013. USU's 10 home wins are the tied with that 2013 season for the fourth-most in Utah State history and the most since 1982. Additionally, USU's seven sweeps this season are the most in a season since recording 10 sweeps in 2013.
 
INTO THE RECORD BOOKS
With 113 total blocks this season, senior Corinne Larsen now has 427 blocks in her career, placing her third all-time at Utah State. Larsen would need another 50 blocks to tie Denae Mohlman (477) for second place. Larsen's 121 blocks this season are the second-most in the Mountain West and are tied for the 27th most nationally.
 
ROAD WARRIORS
Utah State is 9-5 in true road games this season. The nine wins are tied with the 2010 season for the third-most in program history and the most since winning 10 road games in 1980.
 
GOING FIVE
Utah State has played nine matches that have gone to five sets this season. The Aggies are 5-4 in five-set matches. The nine are the most since 2018, when USU went 3-7 in five-set contests.
 
NATIONAL TREASURE
Utah State currently ranks in the top 50 in the nation of several team statistics. The Aggies rank 26th in total assists (1,316), 25th in total kills (1,440), 38th in total service aces (171) and 15th in total blocks (263.5).
 
AGGIES VS. RAMS
All-time, Utah State is 14-33 versus Colorado State, including a 4-13 mark on the home. The Rams have won the last 32 meetings in the series with USU's last victory coming in a 3-0 win at home on Nov. 11, 1982.
 
AGGIES VS. COWGIRLS
USU is 18-25 all-time versus Wyoming and 5-12 at home. Utah State's 3-2 win at Wyoming earlier this season broke a six-game losing streak to the Cowgirls and was USU's first win in Laramie since 2013.
 
LAST WEEK'S CAREER HIGHS
Six different Aggies had career-best efforts last week at San Jose State and Nevada. Senior Corinne Larsen smashed her previous career-best hitting percentage, putting up a hitting perentage of .722 against the Spartans. Senior Kristy Frank set a new career high with 47 attacks and sophomore Inka Mehtola topped her previous record of three digs. Agains the Wolfpack, sophomore Tatum Stall set a new personal-best with 15 digs while freshmen Beatriz Rodrigues and Katie Langford each set new career highs. Langford tallied 29 attacks and four digs while Rodrigues had 18 digs and also tied her career high with two service aces in the match.
 
AGGIE ACES
Utah State senior middle blocker Corinne Larsen tied the single-match service ace record in a four-set match with six in the Oct. 9 match at Air Force. She tied the record previously set by Amanda Nielson, who tallied six aces against Eastern Washington on Aug. 25, 2007. Larsen's six aces are the most by an Aggie since Hannah Gleason had seven in a match on Sept. 8, 2016, the most in a three-set match in school history.
 
HIT ME WITH YOUR BEST SHOT
Junior middle blocker Kennedi Boyd became the second Utah State player to set a program hitting record this season. In the Oct. 9 match at Air Force, Boyd hit .813, recording 13 kills with no errors on 16 attempts. The .813 hitting percentage matches the program record for 15-19 attempts set by Josselyn White on Oct. 27, 2012, against Louisiana Tech.
 
Boyd joins redshirt sophomore outside hitter Hailey Cuff in the record book, as Cuff hit a fiery .846 in the Aug. 28 win over Seton Hall. With her 11 kills on 13 attempts, Cuff set a program record for the best hitting percentage in a single match with 10-14 attempts. 
 
HITTING INTO THE RECORD BOOK
Utah State hit .356 (57-9-135) in the Sept. 15 win at Southern Utah, setting the program record for hitting percentage in a four-set match. The new best surpasses the previous record of .347 (60-17-124) set in a match at Idaho on Oct. 6, 2010.
 
CORINNE FROM THE BLOCK
With her five solo blocks at San Francisco (Sept. 10), senior middle blocker Corinne Larsen set a program record for solo blocks in a three-set match. Her five individual blocks are the most by a Utah State player since Marie Motil recorded six in a contest at UC Irvine on Sept. 21, 1993. 
 
RECORD-BREAKING (DELAYED) DEBUT
Though in his second season, USU head coach Rob Neilson coached his first non-conference slate this year. The 8-4 (.667) non-conference ledger this season marks the best record by a Utah State head coach in their debut season. Prior to this season, the best non-conference record by a first-year head coach came in 1976, the first year of the Utah State program, when co-head coaches Marilyn McReavy and Mary Jo Peppler went 9-6 (.600). 
 
UP NEXT
Utah State's two-game home stand versus Colorado State and Wyoming will wrap up the Aggies' regular season. USU will then prepare for the Mountain West tournament set to begin on Wednesday, Nov. 24, in Las Vegas, Nevada. The top two seeds in the conference will receive a bye through the first round of play.
 - USU -