LOGAN, Utah – Utah State volleyball heads to Las Vegas to compete in the Mountain West Tournament as the conference's 3-seed. The Aggies will face sixth-seeded Boise State on Wednesday, Nov. 27, at 5 p.m. (MT). Should USU advance, they would face second-seeded San José State on Friday, Nov. 29 at 5 p.m. (MT). The championship match is set for Saturday, Nov. 30, at 3 p.m. (MT).
 
FOLLOW ALONG
All Mountain West Tournament matches will be streamed via the Mountain West Network. Links for live stats will be available through UtahStateAggies.com.
 
AGGIES VS. EVERYONE
The Aggies and Broncos will face off for the 55th time in program history on Wednesday, with Boise State holding a 29-24 edge, although USU swept the regular season 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 head coach Rob Neilson is now 6-3 against the Broncos in his career at USU. The two sides also met in the MW Tournament in 2021, with BSU winning, 3-1.
 
Utah State and San José State would meet for the 54th time in history. Utah State leads the sereis 28-24-1, but forfeited the only match between the two teams earlier this season. The Aggies have won four straight in the series, and 15 of the last 20. The Aggies defeated the Spartans, 3-1, in the Mountain West championship match in 2021. Neilson is 6-2 in his coaching career against SJSU. San José State also claimed a pair of five-set victories over USU in back-to-back years at the WAC Tournament in 2007 and 2008.
 
THE TIME HAS COME
The Aggies enter the Mountain West Tournament as the third seed. This is USU's fourth consecutive time qualifying for the MW Tournament, qualifying every season since the tournament's reinstatement in 2021. Utah State won the MW Tournament in 2022 as the 4-seed. The Aggies lost in the semifinals in both 2021 and 2023 as the tournament's 2- and 1-seed, respectively.
 
ONE LAST HURRAH
In her final home stand of her Aggie career, senior Kaylie Ray came through in the clutch with a pair of massive outings. Ray set a career-high with 20 kills on a .395 hitting percentage against UNLV to lead the Aggies to the win. Ray hit three kills in the closing stages of the fifth set to help clinch the victory. Ray then followed up the effort by posting 14 kills on a .242 hitting percentage in USU's win over San Diego State. Ray was named the Mountain West Offensive Player of the Week for her efforts, her first such honors in her career.
 
YOUNG GUN
Freshman Kaylie Kofe also received praise from the Mountain West after helping the Aggies to wins over San Diego State and UNLV. Kofe recorded 100 assists and had two double-doubles across Utah State's final pair of home matches. She finished with 57 assists against the Rebels, the most assists by a player in a MW match this season, and added 11 digs, two kills and one block assist. Kofe then finished with 43 assists against the Aztecs, adding 10 digs, two kills, one ace and one solo block. 
 
SWEEP OF THE WEEK
Utah State swept the weekly awards from the Mountain West after the team's pair of home wins over Nevada and Boise State. Junior Tierney Barlow was named Offensive Player of the Week after hitting .643 with 19 kills on the week, plus two aces, eight blocks and three digs. Barlow hit over .600 in both matches last week. Graduate senior Kelsey Watson was named the Defensive Player of the Week after she led the team with 11 total blocks, helping the team hold Nevada and Boise State to hitting percentages of .143 and .151, respectively. Andrea Simovski earned Freshman of the Week honors after posting a .368 hitting percentage with 29 kills, averaging 4.14 kills and 4.50 points per set for the week. Against the Wolf Pack, Simovski hit .600 with zero attack errors. Against the Broncos, Simovski finished with 20 kills against the Broncos while hitting .286 on 42 attempts, also adding four digs and two blocks. 
 
TOP OF THE MOUNTAIN
Both Barlow and Watson rank in the top six of the Mountain West for hitting percentage during conference play. Barlow ranks second in the league with a .429 hitting percentage while Watson sits in sixth with a mark of .362. The pair also rank highly in blocks per set, with Barlow and Watson sitting ninth and eighth in the conference, respectively, with 0.99 and 1.07 blocks per set during MW play. Kofe also sits near the top of the MW leaderboard in assists per set, ranking second in the league with 10.10 assists per set. As a team, the Aggies rank second in the Mountain West with 13.97 kills per set, 12.79 assists per set, and a .272 hitting percentage
 
KILLER PERFORMANCES
Simovski recorded 20 kills against the Rebels, her fourth match this season with 20 or more kills. Simovski is only the second Aggie in the MW era (since 2013) with four matches of 20+ kills in the same season, joining Lauren Anderson (2017). With Ray also reaching the 20-kill plateau in the match, it became the second time this season in which multiple Aggies have recorded 20 or more kills in the same match after Simovski and freshman Mara Štiglić did so in USU's road win at Boise State earlier this season. Prior to this season, Utah State had never recorded any such instances of multiple 20-kill performances in the same match since joining the Mountain West in 2013.
 
TURNING A NEW LEAF
The Aggies began the season at 3-10 after a challenging non-conference schedule and dropping the first two games of MW play. Since then, however, Utah State has gone 12-3, including seven straight home victories. During that stretch, USU is averaging 14.29 kills per set on a .291 hitting percentage while allowing opponents only 11.77 kills per set on a .218 hitting percentage. The Aggies are also averaging 13.06 assists, 12.58 digs and 2.18 blocks per set during their second-half turnaround. 
 
NO FAULT OF THEIR OWN
Both Simovski and Barlow entirely avoided attack errors in Utah State's win against the Wolf Pack. Barlow recorded zero attack errors across 10 attempts, finishing with six kills on a .600 hitting percentage with one ace and three blocks. Simovski avoided any attack errors on her 15 attempts, finishing with nine kills on a .600 hitting percentage.
 
HITTER'S PARADISE
Utah State hit an even .500 at home against Nevada, finishing with 40 kills and only five attack errors on 70 attempts. It is USU's first time hitting at least .500 since setting the program record of .550 against VCU in 1997. The Aggies' five attack errors were also the fewest by the team since that same match. It was also USU's third consecutive match hitting over .300, tying for their longest such streak since joining the Mountain West in 2013, previously doing so in 2023 and spanning the 2016 and 2017 seasons.
 
SHATTERED RECORDS
In Utah State's first 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 Simovski, who finished with a 28 kills on a .510 hitting percentage. Simovski's 28 kills are tied for the fourth-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.
 
DOUBLE DOWN
Kofe has now recorded a double-double in 11 this season, the most on the team. Simovski ranks second on the team with eight double-doubles this season, lincluding three in the last four matches. The Aggies have recorded multiple double-doubles in the same game eight times this season. Kofe and Simovski have done so seven 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 21 double-doubles this season.
 
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-40 of the KPI. For the full season, USU's schedule still ranks as the 55th-toughest in the nation by opponent winning percentage, and thetoughest 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 13 five-set matches this season, going 7-6 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. Simovski joined the .500+ club with a mark of .600 against Fresno State.
 
DO YOU REQUIRE ASSISTANCE?
Against UNLV, Kofe finished with a career-high 57 assists, the most assists by an Aggie in a single match since Erica Moscoso recorded 67 assists against the Rebels in 2016. Kofe's 57 assists are also the most by any Mountain West player in the conference match this season. Kofe now owns the top assist totals for both a three-, four- and five-set match among MW players during conference play, totaling 41, 52 and 57 assists, respectively, in those matches.
 
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).
 
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 eighth in the conference with 3.24 digs per set.  Additionally, Simovski ranks third 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.
 
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 10 times. Simovski ranks second on the team with seven times leading USU in kills, with Helgesen close behind with five such instances. Ray has now led the team in kills four times this season, while Štiglić has also led the team thrice this season. Barlow and Lawson have each led the Aggies in kills once this season.
 
ACES WILD
Freshman Andrea Simovski recorded six service aces in USU's regular season finale at Colorado State. The six aces are the most by a Utah State player since former Aggie Beatriz Rodrigues also recorded six aces against Fresno State on Nov. 3, 2022. As a team, the Aggies recorded 12 service aces against CSU, their fourth match with 10 or more aces this season. The 12 aces are 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.
 
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. 
  
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.
 
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