LOGAN, Utah – Utah State volleyball heads west for a trio of matches in California. The Aggies will face their second-straight ranked opponent at No. 23 USC on Thursday, Sept. 12, at 8 p.m., before playing at LMU on Friday, Sept. 13, at 7 p.m. USU wraps the week with a neutral match against Ohio on Saturday, Sept. 14, at 3 p.m. (MT), hosted by USC.
 
FOLLOW ALONG
The match at USC will be broadcast on Big Ten+, while the match at LMU will be available for streaming on ESPN+. Links for live stats for all three matches will be available at UtahStateAggies.com.
 
AGGIES VS. EVERYONE
The Aggies will face the Trojans for the 10th time overall, yet only the third time since 1981. USU won the first meeting between the two teams in 1979 but has lost each of the previous nine matches, including a 3-0 loss in 2015. 
 
The series between Utah State and LMU is tied at 3 apiece. The Aggies defeated the Lions, 3-2, last season in Logan, taking the fifth set, 15-13. The two sides have met four times since 2010, with each side winning a pair.
 
USU and Ohio will meet for the first time on Saturday. The Aggies are 0-3 all-time against current MAC opponents, having before played Eastern Michigan, Western Michigan and Northern Illinois.
 
TOUGH STRETCH
The Aggies will face consecutive AVCA-ranked opponents for the first time since facing three-straight ranked opponents in 2022. That season, Utah State faced No. 12 UCLA (W, 3-1), No. 7 BYU (L, 0-3) and No. 10 Pittsburgh (L, 0-3) across a one-week span. 
 
FAMILIAR FACE
LMU head coach Trent Kersten joined the Lions after spending three seasons at San José State from 2020-22, compiling a record of 47-28. Kersten joined the Spartans the same year head coach Rob Neilson arrived at Utah State. The pair faced off a total of six times as conference foes, with the Aggies going 4-2 in those matches, including a 3-1 victory in the 2022 Mountain West Championship match. With last season's 3-2 home win over LMU, Neilson carries a 5-2 record all-time against Kersten.
 
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 USU's season opener against Green Bay, freshman Andrea Simovski led the Aggies with 21 kills, recording a .439 hitting percentage. Both marks are currently season-highs for individual Aggies this season. Simovski's 21 kills also rank as the most by an Aggie freshman since at least 2014 (prior records are not immediately available).
 
TAKING TURNS
Four different Aggie hitters have led the team in kills in this season. Simovski began the season with 21 kills against Green Bay before freshman Delaney Lawson led USU against Utah with 13 kills. Senior Adna Mehmedovic then led the Aggies with 12 kills against UTEP. Helgesen became the first Aggie to lead USU in kills in multiple matches, posting the high-water mark against Cal (14 kills) and No. 8 Purdue (12 kills).
 
CONSISTENCY IS KEY
Freshman libero Jagoda Bialek has led the Aggies in digs in each of the first five matches. Bialek finished with 16 digs against both Green Bay and Utah before concluding the weekend with eight digs against UTEP. Bialek tied with Lawson for the team lead in digs against Cal with 10, before again tying for the team lead against No. 8 Purdue alongisde freshman Kate Lijić with nine digs.
 
Graduate senior Kelsey Watson has also led the Aggies in each match this season for total blocks. Watson has posted respective totals of 6, 7, 3, 6, and 3 blocks so far this season, including a new career-best five solo blocks against Cal.
 
WELCOME TO CLUB ESTES
Utah State has won 31 of its last 37 matches at home and is 35-7 in the last 42 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.
 
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 Hone. 
 
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.
 
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.
 
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.
 
POLL-HEARTED FOES
A total of three Aggie opponents appeared in this week's AVCA coaches poll. In addition to Purdue (8th), BYU (14th) and USC (20th) both climbed two spots in this week's rankings. Fellow Mountain West member UNLV also appeared in the Receiving Votes section, garnering four total votes.
 
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
Senior middle blocker Kelsey Watson became the first Aggie to ever hit 100 percent while logging at least 10 kills 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. 
 
FROM MANAGER TO UNIFORM
Utah State freshman defensive specialist Kendel Hone was part of the 2022 Utah State volleyball team as a manager before officially joining the roster before the 2023 season.
 
WELL TRAVELED
Utah State boasts four international players on its 2024 roster, all freshmen, in Andrea Simovski (Belgrade, Serbia), Jagoda Bialek (Opole, Poland), Kate Lijić (Split, Croatia) and Mara Štiglić (Rijeka, Croatia).
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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