WEEKLY AGGIE UPDATE - OCTOBER 17, 2022

Weekly Aggie Update
 
FOOTBALL          
Contact: Doug Hoffman - (435) 797-3714
 
This Week
Sat., Oct. 22 --- at Wyoming, 7:45 p.m. (FS2)
• Utah State football (3-4, 2-1 MW) continues Mountain West play this week with a road game at Wyoming (4-3, 2-1 MW) on Saturday, Oct. 22, at 7:45 p.m. USU is 40-27-4 all-time against the UW, including a 13-15-3 road record. The game will be televised nationally on Fox Sports 2 (Xfinity Ch. 264/722 HD, DISH Ch. 149, DirecTV Ch. 618).
 
Last Week
W, 17-13 --- at Colorado State
• Utah State true freshman quarterback Bishop Davenport passed for 41 yards and rushed for 29 more, including a 4-yard touchdown, to help the Aggies rally for a 17-13 win at Colorado State last weekend. Davenport, the Aggies' fourth-string quarterback at the start of the season, was on the field after junior Cooper Legas, who started against the Rams, left the game due to injury, as did his backup, sophomore Levi Williams. Davenport's touchdown with 7:34 to go in the third quarter proved to be the game-winner and gave Utah State 17-10 lead. The Aggies finished with 390 yards of total offense, including 252 on the ground. Graduate senior running back Calvin Tyler Jr. led all rushers in the game with 129 yards on 24 carries for his third-straight 100-yard game. Legas was 9-of-12 passing for 85 yards and a 32-yard touchdown to senior wide receiver Justin McGriff that gave Utah State a 7-3 lead with 1:54 to go in the first quarter. McGriff finished with a game-high 63 yards on four receptions, while junior wide receiver Terrell Vaughn had a game-best six catches for 48 yards. Defensively, junior linebacker MJ Tafisi had a team-high 12 tackles, including 1.5 tackles for loss, while graduate junior defensive end Daniel Grzesiak had five stops, including 3.5 tackles for loss and 3.0 sacks – both career highs – to go along with a forced fumble, pass breakup and quarterback hurry. Senior linebacker AJ Vongphachanh added nine tackles, including 0.5 tackles for loss, one pass breakup and one quarterback hurry. CSU managed just 262 yards of total offense (99 rushing, 163 passing) and scored six of its points off two Aggie turnovers. USU also held the Rams to 2-of-15 on third down and 1-for-3 on fourth down attempts. Colorado State also blocked an Aggie punt that was recovered at the USU 20-yard line, but the Rams ended that possession with a missed field goal. Defensively, USU finished the game with 3.0 sacks and 8.0 tackles for loss to go along with a season-high seven pass breakups. The Aggies also had three quarterback hurries, a forced fumble and interception. 
 
 
WOMEN'S TENNIS          
Contact: Ashley Springer - (435) 797-5547 
 
Next Competition
Fri.-Sun., Nov. 11-13 --- at CS Northridge Invite, All Day
•  Utah State's women's tennis concludes its fall schedule at the CS Northridge Invitational from Friday through Sunday, Nov. 11-13.
 
Last Week
NTS --- at ITA Regionals, Las Vegas, Nevada 
•  Utah State competed at the ITA Regionals last week in Las Vegas, Nevada. Junior Lisa Küng led the Aggies with a 4-2 mark, including a 3-1 record and a quarterfinals appearance in doubles action along with graduate Monique Burton. Sophomore Indya Nespor advanced to the quarterfinals in Flight 2 singles, finishing the week with a team-best 3-1 mark in singles action.
 
 
VOLLEYBALL      
Contact: Ashley Springer - (435) 797-5547 
 
This Week
Thur., Oct. 20 --- at Wyoming, 6:30 p.m. (MWN)
Sat., Oct. 22 --- COLORADO STATE, 7 p.m. (MT) (MWN)
• Utah State volleyball (13-6, 5-3 MW) continues Mountain West action this week as it plays at Wyoming (8-12, 4-4 MW) on Thursday, Oct. 20, at 6:30 p.m., and hosts Colorado State (14-5, 7-1 MW) inside the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum on Saturday, Oct. 22, at 7 p.m. All-time, the Aggies are 19-25 against the Cowgirls and 15-33 against the Rams. Both matches will be streamed live on the Mountain West Network and available at www.utahstateaggies.com/watch.
 
Last Week
W, 3-2 --- BOISE STATE
L, 2-3 --- at UNLV
•  Utah State went 1-1 in Mountain West action last week with a 3-2 home win against Boise State and a 3-2 loss at UNLV. Against the Broncos, USU hit .283 (68-19-173), while holding BSU to a .219 (59-22-169) mark. Senior opposite side hitter Kylee Stokes led USU with 15 kills, hitting .464. Two Aggies posted double-doubles as junior outside hitter Tatum Stall had 13 kills and 14 digs, while freshman setter Leah Wilton-LaBoy had 26 assists and 10 digs. Sophomore setter Beatriz Rodrigues was one dig shy of a double digits, finishing the match with 24 assists and nine digs. Defensively, the Aggies were led by redshirt sophomore libero Jordi Holdaway with 22 digs, senior outside Shelby Capllonch with 21 digs and senior middle blocker Kennedi Boyd with four blocks. Against the Rebels, USU hit .213 (55-21-150), while UNLV hit .191 (55-26-152). Capllonch and Stall finished the night with double-doubles as Capllonch had 14 kills and 20 digs, while Stall had 11 kills and 19 digs. Sophomore opposite Adna Mehmedovic also recorded double-digit kills with 11. Holdaway led the Aggies with 22 digs and Boyd posted a team-best three blocks. Rodrigues led USU with 24 assists, followed by Wilton-LaBoy with 18. 
 
 
GOLF    
Contact: Wade Denniston - (435) 797-1361 
 
Next Week
Mon.-Tues., Oct. 24-25 --- at Oral Roberts Invite, All Day
•  Utah State's golf team concludes its fall schedule next week at the Oral Roberts Invitational on Monday and Tuesday, Oct. 24-25.  
 
Last Week
6th/10 --- at CS Northridge Invite 
•  Utah State finished in sixth place at the CS Northridge-hosted Bill Cullum Invitational last week with a 54-hole team score of 11-over 875 (287-294-294) against the 10-team field. CSUN won the tournament at 12-under 852, just edging Cal Baptist, which took second at 11-under 853. Two Aggies finished inside the top 20, led by sophomore Esteban Jaramillo, who tied for 17th at 1-over 217. Fellow sophomore Luis Gerardo Cantu tied for 19th at 2-over 218. Cantu finished with 39 pars for the tournament to rank third in the field of 67 golfers. Javier Vazquez had the best round of the day for Utah State on Tuesday as the junior shot even-par 72. He finished tied for 29th at 5-over 221. Graduate senior Cameron Tucker tied for 35th at 7-over 223, while junior John Cook tied for 39th at 8-over 224. 
 
 
SOCCER               
Contact: Daniel Hansen - (435) 797-8584 
 
This Week
Thur., Oct. 20  --- SAN DIEGO STATE, 4 p.m. (MWN) 
Sun., Oct. 23  --- NEW MEXICO, 1 p.m. (MWN)
•  Utah State soccer (7-5-5, 4-3-1 MW) continues Mountain West play this week as it hosts San Diego State (7-4-5, 5-2-1 MW) on Thursday, Oct. 20, at 4 p.m., and New Mexico (6-3-6, 4-1-3 MW) on Sunday, Oct. 23, at 1 p.m. Both matches will be streamed live on the Mountain West Network and available at www.utahstateaggies.com/watch. 
 
Last Week
L, 1-2 --- at San José State 
W, 2-0 --- at Fresno State
•  Utah State posted a 1-1 Mountain West record last week with a 2-1 loss at San José State and a 2-0 win at Fresno State. Against the Spartans, USU fell behind after a goal from SJSU in the 64th minute. The Aggies equalized in the 81st minute when senior Jordan Foraker cleaned up the rebound after a shot from freshman Tess Werts was saved by the keeper. Junior London Miller also assisted on the play. The Spartans notched the game's deciding goal in the 87th minute, however, as the Aggies were unable to manufacture a response before the end of play. Against the Bulldogs, senior Sammie Murdock opened the scoring in the seventh minute, scoring off an assist from sophomore Bizzy Arevalo after a counter-attack running the length of the field. Freshman goalkeeper McKenzie Hunninghake recorded her two saves off of Fresno State free kicks to preserve USU's lead. After an FSU red card gave the Aggies an 11-on-10 advantage, Foraker scored her second goal of the week, launching a shot from nearly 40 yards out into the upper-right corner of the goal to secure the win.
 
 
CROSS COUNTRY            
Contact: Wade Denniston - (435) 797-1361 
 
This Week
Fri., Oct. 21 --- at Utah Open, 11 a.m.
•  Utah State's men's and women's cross country teams will compete at the Utah Open on Friday, Oct. 21, at 11 a.m. 
 
Last Week
M: 16th/36; W: 28th/36 --- at Wisconsin Invite
•  Behind senior Camren Todd's 25th-place finish, the No. 23 Utah State men's cross country team finished in 16th place last weekend at the Wisconsin-hosted Nuttycombe Invitational. On the women's side, the Aggies, who are also ranked 23rd nationally, placed 28th. No. 2 Stanford captured the men's 8K title with 54 points, while No. 1 BYU finished second with 89 points. The Aggies recorded 443 points to place 16th, but they beat five ranked teams in the process in No. 28 Georgetown (17th, 457 points), No. 20 Harvard (21st, 538), No. 11 Iowa State (22nd, 543), No. 27 Michigan State (23rd, 608) and No. 14 Gonzaga (26th, 682). Todd finished the course in 23 minutes, 31.0 seconds. Junior Yonas Mogos was the second Aggie across the finish line as he placed 83rd with a time of 23:59.1, while graduate senior Mark Crandall completed the course in 24:05.4 to finish 106th. Rounding out the five scoring runners for USU was senior Spencer Nelson (24:06.3) in 109th and junior Max Wehrli (24:12.9) in 124th. In the men's 8K B race, sophomore Brennan Benson led the five Aggie competitors as he placed 23rd with a time of 24:34.1. On the women's side, the Aggies defeated one ranked opponent in No. 30 Harvard (29th, 652). Sophomore Ana Weaver was Utah State's top finisher as she placed 75th with a time of 20:41.2. Fellow sophomore Emma Thornley placed 100th (20:55.1), senior Bailey Brinkerhoff finished 154th (21:15.6), senior Mica Rivera placed 158th (21:17.1) and senior Abby Jensen finished 169th (21:20.1) to round out the Aggies' five scoring runners. In the women's 6K B race, freshman Sarah Ellis was the top Aggie finisher as she placed 22nd with a time of 21:29.8.
 
 
MEN'S TENNIS 
Contact: Daniel Hansen - (435) 797-8584 
 
This Week
Mon., Oct. 17 --- at ITA Regionals, Albuquerque, N.M.
Fri.-Sun., Oct. 21-23 --- at Utah Invite, All Day
• Utah State men's tennis concludes its fall tournament season this weekend with a pair of events. First, it will conclude its stay at the ITA Mountain Regionals, held in Albuquerque, New Mexico, on Monday, Oct. 17. Then, it will conclude its fall season at the Utah Invitational from Friday through Sunday, Oct. 21-23.
 
Last Week
NTS --- at ITA Regionals, Albuquerque, N.M.
•  Utah State had a record-setting week at the ITA Mountain Regional Championships, held in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Senior David Cierny led the way, becoming only the second Aggie to ever advance to the finals at the ITA Regionals. Cierny has gone 5-0 with wins over NAU's Maikel de Boes (6-2, 6-7 (6), 6-4), New Mexico State's Jordy Visser (6-4, 6-1), Denver's Daniel Sancho Arbizu (6-4, 6-4) and Montana State's Matej Panik (6-3, 6-4). Cierny also won versus fellow USU teammate sophomore Sergi Micó Fenollar (6-1,6-1) in the semifinal round. Cierny plays Utah's Geronimo Busleiman on Monday for the singles title. Cierny also teamed with senior Bodin Zarkovic to become the first Aggie duo to reach the semifinals of the doubles draw at the tournament. The seniors notched wins over partnerships from Montana (8-5), UNLV (8-3) and Northern Arizona (8-5), before falling to the tournament's third overall seed in the semifinals. Zarkovic also reached the quarterfinals of the singles draw with wins over UNLV's Jackson Atherton (6-1, 6-2), Idaho's Matteo Masala (7-5, 4-6, 6-4) and Boise State's James Van Herzeele (6-3, 6-2), before falling to the tournament's No. 2-seed. Micó Fenollar also became only the fourth Aggie to reach the semifinals of the singles draw before falling to Cierny. The Spaniard recorded wins over New Mexico State's Itay Feigin (6-1, 6-1), Boise State's Ryo Minakata (7-5, 6-0), Idaho's Francisco Bascon (7-6 (1), 7-6 (3)) and the tournament's top seed, Utah's Franco Capalbo (6-4, 3-6, 7-6 (5)). Micó Fenollar also went 1-1 playing alongside junior Stijn Paardekooper in doubles play with a win over Idaho State's Patrick Kristensen and Valentino De Pellegrin (8-6).