LOGAN, Utah – Utah State volleyball moved one match closer to a perfect conference season, defeating Air Force, 3-1 (15-25, 25-14, 25-19, 25-22), on Thursday night at the Wayne Estes Center.

The Aggies are now 17-0 in Mountain West play and face Nevada (8-19, 4-13 MW) on Saturday, Nov. 22, at 1 p.m., with a chance to complete an undefeated season in MW play. USU's only previous time going undefeated in conference play came in 1979 when the team went 10-0 in the Intermountain Athletic Conference. It would be only the sixth instance of a team going undefeated through conference play in MW history.

The Aggies also extended their overall winning streak to 18 matches, the program's longest winning streak since 1979 and tied for third fourth-longest streak in program history overall alongside an 18-game streak in 1977, and trailing only a 23-game streak spanning the team's 1978 national title season and 1979, and a program-record 26-game streak in 1978. USU's streak is now tied for the fourth-longest active streak in the nation.

Set One
Air Force, needing to win to stay alive for a MW Tournament berth, played like it in the first set. After playing to a 7-7 draw through the opening stages, the Falcons went on a 12-5 run to take control and force an Aggie timeout. USU was unable to battle back out of the timeout as AF continued to extend its lead to its largest of the frame at the end, closing out a 25-15 win. The Falcons hit .452 in the opening frame in their bid to remain alive for postseason play. 

Set Two
After dropping the opening set, the Aggies immediately righted the ship to begin the second, going on a 6-1 run out of the gates. A myriad of contributors arose to return momentum back to USU as sophomore opposite side hitter Loryn Helgesen and sophomore outside hitters Mara Štiglic and Delaney Lawson each recorded kills to put Utah State back in control. The set outcome was never in doubt as the Falcons never cut the lead below five points for the remainder of the set. The Aggies fully shut the door with an 8-1 run to close out the 25-14 win. Štiglic led the way with five kills during the stretch, including the clinching point. After hitting .000 in the opening set, Utah State rebounded to hit .485 in the second on the way to evening the match.

Set Three
An early 5-1 run again gave the Aggies the upper hand to begin the third set, with Lawson leading the way with two kills and an ace. Sophomore setter Kaylie Kofe also recorded back-to-back kills to further cement USU's advantage before the Aggies completely broke open the set midway through with a 7-2 stretch powered by a pair of kills and blocks by redshirt freshman middle blocker Lauren Larkin, first teaming up with Štiglic and then Helgesen to give USU a 21-14 lead, allowing the Aggies to then trade points en route to a 25-19 victory in the set.

Set Four
Larkin and senior middle blocker Tierney Barlow led the Aggies down the home stretch. Barlow recorded six kills and two blocks in the fourth set while Larkin added four kills and a block to help USU close out the match. In what proved to be a tightly-contested battle, Barlow recorded three kills and a block early to help the Aggies maintain pace with the Falcons. After Air Force used a 4-1 stretch halfway through the set to build a four-point lead, Barlow pulled through with a pair of kills to begin the Aggie comeback. Larkin then took over with three kills plus a block alongside Lawson to power a 7-2 run to turn a 19-16 deficit into a 23-21 lead. Barlow and Helgesen also teamed up for a late block before Barlow then delivered the final kill for the 25-22 win.

Quick Notes

• Utah State hit .287 for the match, their 14th match of MW play with over a .250 hitting percentage, including an active streak of eight-straight. The Aggies are now hitting .264 on the season, a mark which would break the current program record of .238 set in 2016.
• USU is now averaging 15.33 kills per set during MW play, the top mark in the league and over a full kill more than second-place Colorado State (14.25). Utah State's 15.37 kills-per-set average would rank first in the nation over the entire season. As it stands, the Aggies are tied for 12th nationally with 14.13 kills per set.
• Barlow led USU with a career-high-tying 18 kills on a .692 hitting percentage, ranking as the second-best hitting percentage with 20 or more attempts in program history, trailing only Helgesen's mark of .704 set earlier this season against Grand Canyon. Barlow is now tied for eighth in the nation with a .438 hitting percentage on the season.
• Barlow hit 18 kills on 26 attempts without a single error. Barlow's most recent hitting error came on Nov. 6 against Colorado State. Barlow has gone four matches and 87 total attempts since last recording an error.
• Štiglic added 11 kills alongside four digs, two assists and a block.
• Larkin recorded 10 kills for the second-straight match, tying her career-high, and hit .667 on 15 attempts without an error.
• Barlow, Larkin and Helgesen all tied for the team lead with five blocks apiece.
• Kofe recorded her 10th double-double of the season, finishing with 44 assists and 14 digs. Kofe now ranks fourth in the nation with 10.98 assists per set.
• Junior libero/defensive specialist Kendel Thompson led the Aggies with 18 digs, her fifth-straight match with double-digit digs, also adding six assists. 
• Lawson provided a spark off the bench, adding seven kills while setting season-highs with a .263 hitting percentage, 10 digs, three assists and an ace. 

Up Next
The Aggies are set to conclude the regular season and celebrate senior day on Saturday, Nov. 1, at 1 p.m. (MT), when Utah State hosts Nevada. The Aggies will celebrate the careers of Tierney Barlow and Kendel Thompson prior to the match

Single-game tickets are on sale now and can be purchased here or by contacting the USU Ticket Office at 435-797-0305.

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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