BACK IN ACTION
Utah State volleyball (9-5, 1-1 MW) continues its 2021 season this week with a pair of Mountain West home matches. The Aggies will host Nevada (3-10, 0-2 MW) on Thursday, Sept. 30, at 7 p.m., then San José State (8-4, 2-0 MW) on Saturday, Oct. 2, 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.
BLACKOUT CANCER
Thursday's match against Nevada will be USU's annual blackout game as the Aggies join the fight to blackout cancer. Utah State associate head coach Tyson Norton is currently battling stage four melanoma with the support of his family and the Aggie community.
LEADING THE LEAGUE
Junior middle blocker Kennedi Boyd is currently leading the Mountain West in individual hitting percentage. Hitting .391 (110-24-220), Boyd holds the first-place spot with the second-best hitting .380.
EXTRA INNINGS
Utah State posted a 33-31 win in the third set of the Sept. 23 match at Wyoming, marking the highest-scoring set by an Aggie team since a 33-31 set win at Idaho on Nov. 5, 2007. At that point, however, NCAA volleyball sets were played to 30, with the sport moving to 25-point sets in 2008.
CAN YOU DIG IT?
Utah State tallied a season-high 87 digs in the five-set match at Wyoming. Sophomore libero Abby Peterson led the team with a season-high 25 digs. The 87 digs are the most by an Aggie squad since Aug. 24, 2018, when USU recorded 88 digs in a four-set loss at Sacramento State.
AGGIES VS. WOLF PACK
One of the tightest series of all Utah State opponent histories, Nevada holds a 25-24 lead against the Aggies. The two teams played just once in the conference-only 2020 season, with USU taking the 3-1 win in Logan. All-time, Utah State is 17-7 against the Wolf Pack in matches played at home.
AGGIES VS. SPARTANS
Much like the Nevada series, the all-time series between Utah State and San José State is remarkably close, with the Aggies holding the slight edge at 23-22-1. The Aggies and Spartans met once in 2020, where USU posted a four-set win at home.
RECORD-BREAKING (DELAYED) DEBUT
Though in his second season, USU head coach Rob Neilson is coaching his first non-conference slate. 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).
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.
Redshirt sophomore outside hitter Hailey 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.
CORINNE FROM THE BLOCK
With her five block solos at San Francisco (Sept. 10), senior middle blocker Corinne Larsen set a program record for block solos in a three-set match. Her five blocks are the most by a Utah State player since Marie Motil recorded six in a contest at UC Irvine on Sept. 21, 1993. Larsen is ranked fifth all-time in Utah State history with 370 total blocks and in block assists with 340. Currently, Larsen ranks fourth in the Mountain West and 16th nationally in total blocks.
ACE IN THE HOLE
Sophomore outside hitter Tatum Stall leads the Aggie squad with 23 service aces on the season, surpassing her 2020 season total. Stall recorded a career-high four aces in the season opener against North Dakota, and has had at least one in every match this season. She is ninth in the Mountain West in aces per set (0.49), but third in total aces.
As a team, the Aggies recorded 12 service aces in the win over San Francisco. Senior middle blocker Corinne Larsen led the team with four, while five other players had at least one. The 12 are the most by a USU team in a single match since recording 13 in a four-set victory at Nevada on Nov. 6, 2014.
CATCHING FIRE
Utah State hit .366 (49-15-93) as a team against Seton Hall, marking the first time an Aggie team has hit .300 or higher since the 2016 season. Additionally, USU has hit above .210 in 10 of 14 matches this season. The Aggies have not hit that well in that many contests since the 2017 campaign. Overall, Utah State is hitting .247 (627-239-1570) on the year.
UP NEXT
The Aggies return to the road next week for a pair of matches. Utah State will play at New Mexico on Thursday, Oct. 7, at 6:30 p.m. The weekend will conclude in a match at Air Force on Saturday, Oct. 9, at 11 a.m.
