BACK IN ACTION
Utah State volleyball (17-7, 9-3 MW) returns home this week for a pair of Mountain West matches at the Wayne Estes Center. The Aggies will host Air Force on Thursday, Nov. 4, at 7 p.m, before taking on New Mexico on Saturday, Nov. 6, at 1 p.m.
 
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.
 
HERE WE GO AGAIN
Both matches will be the second time Utah State has faced Air Force and New Mexico this season after playing both on the road earlier in the year. Against the Lobos in Albuquerque on Oct. 7, the Aggies dropped a tight one, losing to New Mexico, 3-2. USU rebounded in its next match at Air Force on Oct. 9, defeating the Falcons 3-1 on their home court.
 
LEADING THE LEAGUE
Junior middle blocker Kennedi Boyd is currently leading the Mountain West in individual hitting percentage. Hitting .423 (168-34-317), Boyd holds the first-place spot, with the second-place hitter attacking .410 (146-28-288). Additionally, Boyd's marks ranks 12th among all qualifying Division I players.
 
HITTING THE CENTURY MARK
With 10 total blocks in Utah State's 3-2 victory over San Diego State on Oct. 28, senior Corinne Larsen topped 100 total blocks on the season with 103 and counting. Larsen currently ranks second in the conference in total blocks and is tied for 36th nationally. 
 
HAPPY AT HOME
Utah State is 8-1 in games played in Logan this season. The eight wins are tied for the second-most for Utah State since going 9-2 in home matches during the 2013 season.
 
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.
 
CLIMBING THE RANKS
Senior middle blocker Corinne Larsen is currently ranked fourth in school history in both block assists and total blocks, as she has tallied 364 block assists and 397 total blocks. Larsen needs nine additional block assists and 12 total blocks to move up to third place. Larsen also needs only four more solo blocks to enter the top 10 in school history.
 
NATIONAL TREASURE
Utah State currently ranks in the top 50 in the nation of several team statistics. The Aggies rank 27th in total assists (1,129), 23rd in total kills (1,231), 44th in total service aces (144) and 18th in total blocks (223.5).
 
AGGIES VS. LOBOS
All-time, Utah State is 13-22 against New Mexcio, including 7-9 in Logan. The Lobos have won six of the last seven meetings, dating back to the 2017 season. USU's last win versus New Mexico came in a five-set victory in Albuquerque in 2019. Three of the last four contests have been decided in five sets, including each of the past two.
 
AGGIES VS. FALCONS
USU is 10-5 all-time against Air Force, with a 6-2 record in matches played at home. The Aggies and Falcons split their two-match series in Logan last spring, USU's first home loss to Air Force since 2015. 
 
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
After taking on the Lobos and Falcons at home, Utah State will return to the road for a two-game road trip. The Aggies will play at San José State on Thursday, Nov. 11, at 5 p.m., and then Nevada on Saturday, Nov. 13, at 2 p.m.
 
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