LOGAN, Utah - Utah State kicks off the 2025 season with three matches at the Rainbow Wahine Volleyball Classic in Honolulu, Hawaii. The Aggies will first face San Diego on Friday, Aug. 29, at 8:45 pm MT, before facing tournament-host Hawaii on Saturday, Aug. 30, at 11 pm MT. USU will close the weekend against Marquette on Sunday, Aug. 31, at 6:45 pm MT.
 
FOLLOW ALONG
The match against tournament-host Hawaii will be available for streaming on ESPN+. Live stats, if available, can be found through UtahStateAggies.com.
 
AGGIES VS. EVERYONE
Utah State and San Diego will meet for only the fifth time in history and the first time since 1999. The Aggies lead the series, 3-1, including a pair of road victories. The teams split a pair of neutral matches with USU winning in 1984 and the Toreros winning the most recent match in 1999. 
 
The Aggies and Rainbow Wahine have met 52 times previously, including two stretches as conference mates in the Big West from 1990-95 and the WAC from 2005-11. Hawai'i leads the all-time series 43-9 and holds a 25-4 home mark against USU. Utah State last won on the island with a 3-0 win in 2007. The Aggies also defeated Hawai'i, 3-0, to win the WAC title in 2010. The Rainbow Wahine have won the past three meetings overall and five straight in Hawai'i.
 
Utah State and Marquette will meet for the first time in history this weekend. The Aggies are 2-2 all-time against current Big East teams, with head coach Rob Neilson winning his lone match versus a Big East team at the helm of USU with a 3-0 home victory over Seton Hall in 2021. USU also defeated Butler, 3-1, in 2009 but has fallen to UConn in 1994 and Xavier in 2019. 
 
EARNED RESPECT
The Aggies enter the 2025 campaign as preseason favorites to win the Mountain West title according the conference's preseason coaches poll. Utah State received seven of 12 first-place votes and 114 total points, finishing ahead of second-place Colorado State with 106 points and three first-place votes. San Diego State received the final two first-place votes and placed third with 96 points. This is the second time in the past three seasons the Aggies have been picked to win the conference after also entering the 2023 season as preseason favorites. It is also the fourth-straight year USU has been picked in the top two entering the season after heading into 2022 and 2024 picked second in the preseason poll.
 
A LOOK BACK
The Aggies finished the 2024 season at 15-14 overall with a 12-6 showing in Mountain West play. USU won 12 of its final 15 matches of the regular season to tie for second in the conference standings and qualify for the MW Tournament. Utah State fell in the opening round of the tournament to Boise State. 
 
BACK FOR MORE
The Aggies boast a pair of players who received preseason all-Mountain West recognition this season, making Utah State the only team in the conference with multiple selectees. Senior middle blocker Tierney Barlow and sophomore setter Kaylie Kofe each earned the honor. Both also earned all-MW honors last season, as Barlow was named to the all-MW team for the second time in her career, first earning the award in 2023 while at Wyoming. Kofe earned all-MW honorable mention last season, one of only three freshmen to receive all-MW honors from the conference last year. 
 
WELL TRAVELED
Utah State boasts three international players on its roster in sophomores outside hitter Andrea Simovski (Belgrade, Serbia), libero/defensive specialist Jagoda Bialek (Opole, Poland) and outside hitter Mara Štiglić (Rijeka, Croatia). USU's 2025 roster also features eight different U.S. states (Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Indiana, Texas, Utah and Washington). 
 
DAUNTING FOES
The Aggies face a daunting opening schedule as the team's first six opponents of the 2025 season all received votes in the AVCA/TARAFLEX Preseason Top 25. USU's opponents on the Rainbow Wahine Volleyball Classic - San Diego, Hawai'i and Marquette - all received votes in the poll but finished just outside the top 25. Utah State's ensuing three matches will all come against ranked competition as the Aggies will welcome No. 9 Texas A&M and No. 23 Utah to the Wayne Estes Center on back-to-back days before traveling to take on No. 6 Stanford. With USU's home match against No. 19 BYU, Utah State will face a total of four teams ranked in this year's preseason top 25.
 
SHATTERED RECORDS
In Utah State's first match against the Broncos in 2024, 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 last season for hitting percentage in a five-set match. 
 
HITTER'S PARADISE
Utah State hit an even .500 at home last season against Nevada, finishing with 40 kills and only five attack errors on 70 attempts. It was 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.
 
YOUTH MOVEMENT
This year, Utah State's roster still leans young as the Aggies field only one senior (Barlow) and two juniors (Kendel Thompson and Olivia Tukuafu). Seven sophomores and two redshirt freshmen return from last season's roster in addition to two sophomore transfers (Cala Cooper and Ava Nakai) joining USU. The Aggies also bring in three true freshmen for 2025 (Ava Martin, Hailey Spencer and Sadie Warren).
 
Utah State boasted the third-youngest roster by age in the nation last season, fielding 12 freshmen out of 18 rostered players. 
 
BEEN HERE BEFORE
Utah State loses only three letterwinners from the 2024 squad, needing only to replace graduated seniors Adna Mehmedovic, Kelsey Watson and Kaylie Ray. The Aggies return eight letterwinners from last year, including seven players who appeared in over 20 matches and four players who appeared in all 29 matches last season. Barlow, redshirt junior Kendel Thompson and freshmen outside hitters Andrea Simovski and Delaney Lawson all saw action in every match of 2024, with Barlow also starting every match. Kofe appeared in 28 matches, while sophomore libero/defensive specialist Jagoda Bialek, sophomore right side hitter Loryn Helgesen and sophomore outside hitter Mara Stiglic appeared in 27, 22 and 15 matches, respectively. Additionally, sophomore middlbe blocker Ava Napierski and junior setter Olivia Tukuafu appeared in 11 and 10 matches, respectively, during the 2024 season.
 
GOING THE DISTANCE
Last year, 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 played in 12 five-set matches last season, going 6-6 in those contests.
 
ASSISTANCE REQUIRED
Kofe led USU last season with 958 total assists and an 8.33 assist-per-set average, both of which ranked fourth in the Mountain West. Kofe ranked second during league play with 727 total assists and 10.10 assists per set. Kofe recorded 41 assists against Fresno State, 52 assists against New Mexico, and a career-high 57 assists against UNLV, ranking as the most assists for a three-, four- and five-set match, respectively, among MW players during conference play. 
 
STALWART IN THE MIDDLE
Barlow was the only Aggie last season to start all 29 matches on the season. Barlow was named to the all-MW Team last year, her third career all-MW honor after receiving two such honors at Wyoming before transferring to Utah State. Barlow led the team last year and ranked third in the Mountain West with a .383 hitting percentage while recording 220 kills, averaging 1.85 per set. Barlow also tied for the team lead with 101.0 total blocks and ranked second with 0.85 blocks per set and fourth with 26 service aces.
 
KILLER PERFORMANCES
Simovski recorded four matches last season of 20 kills or more, becoming only the second Aggie in the MW era (since 2013) with three matches of 20+ kills in the same season, joining Lauren Anderson (2017). Simovski and Štiglić each topped 20 kills against Boise State, while Simovski and former Aggie Kaylie Ray achieved the feat against UNLV. Prior to 2024, Utah State had never recorded any such instances of multiple 20-kill performances in the same match since joining the Mountain West in 2013.
 
CAN I DIG IT?
Utah State junior 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. Last season, 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 in 2024, Thompson ranked eighth in the conference with 3.24 digs per set.  
 
ACES WILD
Simovski recorded five service aces in USU's 3-2 win over Ohio in 2024. 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 last season and the most by USU in a match since recording 13 at New Mexico in 2023. 
 
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.
 
UP NEXT
Utah State heads home to reopen Club Estes for the 2025 season by welcoming No. 9 Texas A&M to Logan on Friday, Sept. 5, at 7 p.m. (MT), before facing in-state foe and No. 23-ranked Utah on Saturday, Sept. 6, at 7 p.m. (MT). This is the fourth-straight year in which Utah State will face a top-10 foe and the second-straight season the Aggies will host a top-10 team at the Wayne Estes Center after hosting No. 8 Purdue last season and playing at No. 5 Nebraska and No. 7 BYU in 2023 and 2022, respectively. 
 
Season tickets, mini-plans, and 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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