LOGAN, Utah – Utah State volleyball again takes part in the Mountain West Tuesday Night Block Party on Tuesday, Oct. 29, at 7 p.m. this time hosting Nevada in the team's first repeat matchup of the conference season. The Aggies will then host Boise State on Halloween night at 7 p.m.
 
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 leads the all-time series against Nevada, 30-26, but lost the first match between the teams this season, 3-2, in Reno. The loss was head coach Rob Neilson's first loss to the Wolf Pack in his career and snapped a seven-game winning streak by the Aggies in the series. The series features a heavy home-court advantage, as whoever plays at home is 38-15 in the series. Nevada holds an 18-8 mark in Reno, while Utah State is 20-7 against the Wolf Pack in Logan. Since becoming conference mates in the WAC in 2005, USU is 24-12 against Nevada. The two sides have met in the postseason once, with Utah State defeating Nevada, 3-1, in the opening round of the 2010 WAC Tournament, which USU would go on to win. 
 
The Aggies and Broncos will face off for the 54th time in program history on Saturday, with Boise State holding a 29-24 edge, although USU won earlier this season in Boise, 3-2, and has now won five straight in the series. The Broncos won the first 14 games in the series before USU won 13 of the next 14, including seven of the first eight meetings as conference members of the WAC. Since joining the MW, Utah State is 10-12 against the Broncos, while Neilson is now 6-3 against the Broncos in his career at USU.
 
SHATTERED RECORDS
In Utah State's last match against the Broncos, the Aggies set a new program record for hitting percentage in a five-set match. USU hit .371 in the 3-2 win against the Broncos, breaking the previous record of .361 against Alaska-Fairbanks in 1997 and ranking third in the nation this season for hitting percentage in a five-set match. Utah State was led by freshman Andrea Simovski, who finished with a 28 kills on a .510 hitting percentage, both career-highs. Simovski's 28 kills are tied for the third-most by a freshman in the nation this season and are tied for the third-most by anyone in the MW this season. Freshman Mara Stiglic also finished with career-highs of 20 kills on a .333 hitting percentage. This is the first time that multiple Aggies have finished with 20 or more kills in the same match since joining the MW in 2014.
 
ICYMI
The Aggies swept Fresno State, 3-0, on Saturday at the Estes. The Bulldogs entered the match tied for the conference lead alongside Colorado State. Utah State was led by the tandem of senior Adna Mehmedovic and Mara Štiglić with 16 kills apiece. Mehmedovic set a new career-high hitting percentage of .640 and recorded 0 attack errors on 25 attempts. Freshman Kaylie Kofe also recorded 41 assists, tied for the most by any MW player in a three-set match this season, and the most in a three-set match during conference play.
 
JOCKEYING FOR POSITION
With the calendar soon turning to November, the race for the Mountain West Tournament is rapidly taking shape. The top six teams in the league will advance to the tournament in Las Vegas. The Aggies are currently tied for fourth place alongside San Diego State and Boise State with a 6-4 conference record, one game ahead of Wyoming (5-5) and two games ahead of Nevada (4-6).  
 
LATE HEROICS
Simovski came through in the clutch in the final set of USU's 3-2 win at Boise State. The freshman from Belgrade, Serbia, recorded six of USU's 15 points in the fifth set, going 6-0-7 for an .857 hitting percentage to help the Aggies close the door for the road victory.
 
DOUBLE DOWN
Freshmen Kaylie Kofe has recorded a team-best six double-doubles this season and did so in each of Utah State's five-set matches at Nevada (career-high-tying 52 assists and 10 digs) and Boise state (48 assists and a career-high 13 digs). Simovski ranks second on the team with five double-doubles this season, also recording one against the Broncos with 28 kills and 13 digs. The Aggies have recorded multiple double-doubles in the same game five times this season. Kofe and Simovski have done so four times, including when USU recorded three double-doubles in the season opener against Green Bay as freshman Olivia Tukuafu recorded her first double-double alongside Kofe and Simovski. Kofe and Štiglić also posted double-doubles together versus Weber State. All told, the Aggies have recorded 13 double-doubles this season.
 
HITTING THEIR STRIDE
After a difficult nonconference schedule featuring six opponents ranked in the top-50 of the KPI rankings, the Aggies have hit their stride in conference play, winning six of their past seven matches. During MW play, Utah State ranks second in the assists per set (12.84), second in kills per set (13.95) and second in hitting percentage (.260). Individually, junior Tierney Barlow ranks third in the conference in hitting percentage (.406) and Kofe ranks third in assists per set (9.58).
 
THE HARDEST ROAD
Utah State challenged itself in nonconference play, facing off against three AVCA-ranked teams and six teams which rank in the top-50 of the KPI. Deep into conference play, USU's schedule still ranks as the 54th-toughest in the nation by opponent winning percentage, and the toughest among Mountain West teams.
 
GOING THE DISTANCE
The Aggies played seven consecutive matches which went a full five sets, beginning with the team's win over Ohio and ending with USU's comeback win at San Diego State. According to available sources and research, this is the longest known streak of five-set matches in women's volleyball history at the Division-I level. USU has now played in 10 five-set matches this season, going 5-5 in those contests.
 
UNSTOPPABLE FORCES
In USU's 3-0 sweep of Fresno State, Mehmedovic recorded a new career-high hitting percentage of .640, avoiding any attack errors to record a line of 16-0-25. Mehmedovic's percentage is the highest of any Aggie this season while recording 10 or more kills. Freshman Loryn Helgesen led the Aggie attack agaoinst No. 8 Purdue with 12 kills on only 19 attempts, finishing with a .526 hitting percentage. Barlow also topped the .500-plateau against Nevada, hitting .583 to record 15 kills.
 
DO YOU REQUIRE ASSISTANCE?
Against New Mexico, Kofe finished with a career-high 52 assists, the most assists by an Aggie in a single match since Kassidy Johnson recorded 56 assists against Air Force in 2017. Kofe's 52 assists are also the most in the Mountain West this season for a match going fewer than five sets. Kofe tied her own career-high mark with 52 assists in USU's five-set loss at Nevada. Kofe leads the Aggies this season with 554 total assists and a 7.19 assist-per-set average, an average which has risen to 9.58 during conference play. Kofe owns the top assist totals for both a three-set and four-set match among MW players this season.
 
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. During MW play, Thompson ranks sixth in the conference with 3.45 digs per set.  Additionally, Simovski ranks second in the MW this season for digs in a three-set match after recording 17 digs in USU's 3-0 sweep at UNLV.
 
TOP COMPETITION
Utah State welcomed No. 8 Purdue to the Wayne Estes Center on Sept. 7 but fell in a 3-0 sweep. It was the first the Aggies have faced a team ranked in the top-10 of the AVCA rankings since 2014 when the team hosted then-No. 7 Colorado State.
 
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).
 
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 nine times, while Helgesen and Simovski have each led the team in kills four times this season. Barlow tied for the team lead in kills alongside Simovski in the team's match against Air Force, which was Barlow's first time leading the team in kills. Štiglić has led the team twice this season after tying for the team lead with Mehmedovic against Fresno State. Lawson and junior Kaylie Ray have each led USU in kills once this season, accomplishing the feat against Utah and Weber State, respectively.
 
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. 
 
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.
 
WELCOME TO CLUB ESTES
Utah State has won 33 of its last 41 matches at home and is 37-9 in the last 46 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.
 
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.
 
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 to the road next week for a pair of matches, first playing at Air Force on Thursday, Nov. 7, at 6 p.m. The Aggies will wrap the weekend at New Mexico on Saturday, Nov. 9, at 1 p.m.
 
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 -