Utah State volleyball heads on the road for the first time in conference play to take on San Diego State on Thursday, Oct. 3, at 7 p.m. (MT), before facing UNLV on Saturday, Oct. 5, at 2 p.m (MT).

Utah State Volleyball to Face Aztecs, Rebels on Two-Match Road Trip

Game Notes (PDF)

Women's Volleyball 10/2/2024 12:28:00 PM

LOGAN, Utah – Utah State heads on the road for the first time in conference play to take on San Diego State on Thursday, Oct. 3, at 7 p.m. (MT), before facing UNLV on Saturday, Oct. 5, at 2 p.m (MT).

FOLLOW ALONG
All Mountain West matches will be streamed via the Mountain West Network. Links for live stats will be available through UtahStateAggies.com.

AGGIES VS. EVERYONE
Utah State and San Diego State will square off for the 32nd time on Thursday, with the Aztecs currently holding a 17-13-1 advantage in the series. USU is 3-12 against SDSU in San Diego, but all three road wins have come in the last four road matches. The Aggies have won the past five matches overall, including two straight in San Diego. Head coach Rob Neilson is 6-1 all-time against the Aztecs

The Aggies and Rebels will play for the 23rd time in program history, with 20 of the 23 meetings coming since 2013 as conference opponents. UNLV leads the series, 15-7, although Utah State has won each of the previous two meetings. The Rebels had won seven of eight matches in the series prior to USU's current streak. Utah State is 3-7 on the road against UNLV, but won the most recent road match last season, 3-2. The two sides met in the 2022 MW semifinals, resulting in a 3-0 Aggie victory en route to a conference tournament title. Neilson holds a 3-4 record as head coach versus the Rebels.

ICYMI
The Aggies fell in a pair of 3-2 home losses last week to Colorado State and Wyoming. Against the Rams, Utah State used a 5-0 run in the fourth set to stage an impressive comeback and force a fifth set before falling in the final frame. Versus the Cowgirls, USU won two of the first three sets and led by six in the fourth set before a Wyoming comeback prevented the Aggie victory.

GOING THE DISTANCE
The Aggies have played six consecutive matches which have gone the full five sets. Utah State has gone the distance in wins against Ohio and Weber State while also falling in marathon matches to No. 19 BYU, Utah Valley, Colorado State and Wyoming. According to available sources at this time, this is the longest known streak of five-set matches in women's volleyball history at the Division-I level.

FRESHMAN PHENOMS
When Utah State welcomed No. 8 Purdue to the Wayne Estes Center, the first top-10 opponent to come to Logan since 2014, freshman Loryn Helgesen led the Aggie attack with 12 kills on only 19 attempts. Helgesen's hitting percentage of .526 in the match was the highest by an Aggie this season with at least 10 kills.

In the season opener against Green Bay, freshman Andrea Simovski led the Aggies with 21 kills, recording a .439 hitting percentage. Simovski's 21 kills rank as the most by an Aggie freshman since at least 2014 (prior records are not immediately available).

Against Weber State, freshman Kaylie Kofe finished with a career-high 41 assists as the Aggies shifted from a two-setter to single-setter approach. Kofe's 41 assists were the most by a Utah State player since former Aggie Kaleni Vaivai recorded 46 assists at New Mexico on April 3, 2021.

A freshman leads the Aggies this season in digs (Jagoda Bialek, 100), assists (Kaylie Kofe, 253) and aces (Simovski, 17).

CAN I DIG IT?
Redshirt sophomore Kendel Thompson accrued a career-high 23 digs in Utah State's match versus Wyoming. Thompson's 23 digs were the most by a Utah State player in a single match since former Aggie Jordi Holdaway recorded 25 digs against Air Force in 2022. Through the first week of MW play, Thompson ranks sixth in the conference with 3.60 digs per set.

TAKING TURNS
Five different Aggie hitters have led the team in kills in this season. Senior Adna Mehmedovic has led the Aggies in kills a team-high six times, while Helgesen has done so on four occasions. Simovski began the season with 21 kills against Green Bay before Lawson led USU against Utah with 13 kills. Junior Kaylie Ray led USU in kills for the first time this season with 16 against Weber State.

ACES WILD
Freshman Andrea Simovski recorded five service aces in USU's 3-2 win over Ohio. The five aces are tied for the most by a Utah State player since former Aggie Beatriz Rodrigues recorded six aces against Fresno State on Nov. 3, 2022. As a team, the Aggies recorded 12 service aces against Weber State, their second match with 10 or more aces this season. The 12 aces were the most by USU in a match since recording 13 at New Mexico last season. Utah State currently ranks fourth in the Mountain West with 77 total aces on the season.

YOUTH MOVEMENT
Utah State boasts the third-youngest roster by age in the nation. The Aggies' average age of 19.6 is only bested by Stephen F. Austin (18.5) and Army (19.0). USU has a total of 11 true freshmen on the team in 2024, plus one redshirt freshman (Rachel Reed). In total, the Aggies bring in 13 newcomers to the 2024 roster and return only four letterwinners in Kelsey Watson, Mehmedovic, Kaylie Ray and Kendel Thompson.

TAKING STOCK OF THE CONFERENCE
The Aggies were picked to finish second in the Mountain West this season as voted in the MW preseason coaches poll. Utah State received a total of 84 points and two first-place votes in the poll, finishing behind Colorado State's 98 points and eight first-place votes. Boise State, Fresno State and UNLV rounded out the top-five of the poll, with UNLV also receiving the final first-place vote.

WELL TRAVELED
Utah State boasts four international players on its roster, all freshmen, in Andrea Simovski (Belgrade, Serbia), Jagoda Bialek (Opole, Poland), Kate Lijić (Split, Croatia) and Mara Štiglić (Rijeka, Croatia).

A YEAR TO REMEMBER
In 2023, Utah State won its third-straight Mountain West title as the Aggies became the outright MW regular season champions after finishing league play 17-1, the most conference wins in program history. USU earned its first-ever at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament, marking its second-straight and sixth-ever appearance at the Tournament.

WELCOME TO CLUB ESTES
Utah State has won 31 of its last 39 matches at home and is 35-9 in the last 44 matches played in Logan. The Aggies played in front of three sold-out crowds of 1,488 fans last season, first doing so against Utah on Aug. 30, 2023, to register the program's first sellout since 2015. USU then reached capacity against then-No. 12 BYU (Sept. 16) and San José State (Nov.9). Last year was the first season in which USU sold out the Estes on multiple occasions.

In the team's Spectrum Magic Night against Utah Valley, held in the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum, the Aggies set a program record with 2,559 fans in attendance.

AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN
Utah State won the outright Mountain West regular season title in 2023, making it three-straight MW championships under head coach Rob Neilson. The Aggies also shared the MW regular season title in 2021 before winning the MW tournament in 2022. USU has won eight regular season conference titles in program history, including the WAC in 2012 and five consecutive titles in the Intermountain Athletic Conference from 1977 through 1981.

FROM MANAGER TO UNIFORM
Utah State freshman defensive specialist Kendel Thompson was part of the 2022 Utah State volleyball team as a manager before officially joining the roster before the 2023 season.

BRING ON THE ACCOLADES
Utah State was represented by a pair of athletes on the all-MW preseason team. Mehmedovic and incoming juinor transfer Tierney Barlow each earned the honor after both were named to the all-MW team in 2023. Mehmedovic was named to the all-MW team in 2023 after totaling 295 kills, averaging 2.68 per set, while adding 103 blocks, 69 digs and 10 assists. She was named the MW Offensive Player of the Week for the week ending Oct. 30 after posting back-to-back totals of 14 kills in wins over Colorado State and Wyoming, hitting .444 (28-4-54) during the two matches. Barlow was named all-Mountain West in 2023 while playing at Wyoming, recording 324 kills, averaging 2.97 per set, and added 124 total blocks, averaging 1.14 per set. She also had 77 digs, 31 service aces and six assists during the season. Barlow was also named the MW Freshman of the Year in 2022, also earning honorable mention all-MW the same season. Head coach Rob Neilson was also named the MW Coach of the Year in 2023, his second time receiving the honor after also earning the award in 2021.

KILLER QUEEN KELSEY
Graduate senior middle blocker Kelsey Watson is the only Aggie to ever hit 100 percent while logging at least 10 kills, doing so in last year's regular season finale at Nevada (Nov. 18, 2023). She now holds the school hitting percentage record for between 10-14 attempts as she was a perfect 10-for-10 against the Wolf Pack.

UP NEXT
Utah State returns home to the Wayne Estes Center to face New Mexico on Thursday, Oct. 10, at 7 p.m. The Aggies will then host Air Force on Saturday, Oct. 12, at noon.

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 -

Print Friendly Version