LOGAN, Utah – Utah State volleyball returns to the Wayne Estes Center for its 2024 home opener against Cal on Friday, Sept. 6, at 6 p.m. (MT). The Aggies will then welcome a top-10 foe to Club Estes on Saturday, Sept. 7, when they take on No. 8-ranked Purdue.
 
Season and single-game tickets are available and can be purchased here.
 
FOLLOW ALONG
Both matches will be streamed via the Mountain West Network. Live stats will be provided via StatBroadcast. Links will be available on the team's social media pages and listed on the Utah State Athletics website.
 
AGGIES VS. EVERYONE
The weekend's matches will be a reacquainting as Utah State will face Cal for the first time since 2010. The Aggies lead the all-time series, 4-3, but have not defeated the Golden Bears since 1981. Cal has won each of the last three meetings (2010, 2007 and 1998). USU is 9-10 all-time versus current ACC opponents, having before played Boston College (0-1), Florida State (1-1), North Carolina (1-0), Pittsburgh (1-1), SMU (1-1), Stanford (0-3) and Syracuse (1-0).
 
Purdue and Utah State have met only once previously, a five-set Aggie victory in 2008 as part of the Utah Classic in Salt Lake City. USU is 23-31 all-time against Big Ten foes and has faced every Big Ten team at least once except for Iowa, Maryland, Northwestern and Wisconsin. The Aggies fell to the Big Ten's Minnesota in the first round of last year's NCAA Tournament.
 
RESPECTED FOES
At No. 8 in the nation, Purdue will be the highest-ranked opponent to venture to the Wayne Estes Center since then No. 7 Colorado State came to town on Sept. 25, 2014. Utah State's last win over a top-10 ranked opponent was a 3-0 win over No. 3 Hawai'i in the 2010 WAC Championship match. The Aggies are 0-7 in their last seven matches against top-10 foes, including a 3-0 loss to then-No. 5 Nebraska in the 2023 season opener.
 
PRIOR HISTORY
Graduate senior Kelsey Watson has previously faced off against Purdue, facing the Boilermakers on Aug. 27, 2022, while playing for Loyola Chicago. In a three-set match, Watson finished with three kills on nine attempts, hitting .222, and recorded two blocks in the match, including one solo.
 
FRESHMAN PHENOM
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
A different Aggie hitter has led the team in kills in each of the team's first three matches 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. 
 
CONSISTENCY IS KEY
Freshman libero Jagoda Bialek has led the Aggies in digs in each of the first three matches. Bialek finished with 16 digs against both Green Bay and Utah before concluding the weekend with eight digs against UTEP.
 
WELCOME TO CLUB ESTES
Utah State has won 31 of its last 35 matches at home and is 35-5 in the last 40 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.
 
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.
 
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.
 
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, Adna Mehmedovic, Kaylie Ray and Kendel Hone. 
 
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.
 
IN THE POLLS
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.
 
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).
 
 - USU -