USU volleyball is leaving home and going west for a trio of matches in California. The Aggies will play from Thursday to Saturday, September 12 through the 14th, playing USC, LMU, and Ohio. Utah State will have their work cut out for them as USC is ranked 23rd. LMU has a history as they haven’t won since 1979, and Ohio hasn’t beaten USU since 1982.
USC will host Ohio and LMU, broadcast on Big Ten+, while the LMU match will be available on ESPN+. Both links will be accessible at UtahStateAggies.com. Thus far, USU has a record of 8-4 this year, including wins over colleges from Florida and Wyoming.
USU Heads West for Their Next Three Matches
USU Takes on USC, LMY, And Ohio State
The USC Trojans will face the Aggies for the 10th time, but only the third time since 1981. USU drew first blood, taking the first match they played in 1979. However, USC has won the nine matches after that. The worst was back in 2015 when USU lost 3-0.
The Aggies’ next match will be against LMU, and their history has them marked at three apiece. Last season, Utah State won, beating the Lions 3-2 on their home court. Since 2010, they have met four times, with each side taking two.
The last matchup will be Utah State vs. Ohio, who will face each other for the first time on Saturday. The Aggies haven’t won against Eastern Michigan, Western Michigan, or Northern Illinois, all Mid-American Conference teams.
Coaches and Teams Have a History
For the first time since 2022, the Aggies have faced consecutive American Volleyball Coaches Association opponents. Two years ago, Utah State University faced UCLA, BYU, and Pittsburgh, ranked 12th, 7th, and 10th over a week.
LMU head coach Trent Kersten and USU’s head coach Rob Neilson have faced off. Trent joined the Lions after spending three seasons coaching for San Jose State. Kersten transferred to the Spartans the same year Neilson moved to Utah State University. They faced off six times in conference, with the Aggies taking 4-2 and a 3-1 two years ago in the Mountain West Championship match. Neilson has a 5-2 record against Kersten.
Aggies Have Several New Weapons
One of the stars on the rise and a true Aggie who must be at their best is freshman Loryn Helgesen. She led the Aggies in attack with 12 kills out of 19 attempts. Her hitting percentage is a little over half in one of her best matches this season, with over ten kills.
In the Aggies’ season opener against Green Bay, another freshman, Andrea Simovski, played fantastically with 21 kills and just under half a hitting percentage. This is a season-high for her and the Aggies, dating back to 2014.
So far, the Aggies have excelled in taking turns, with Simovski taking the lead with 21 kills and then freshman Delaney Lawson leading USU with 13 kills when they played Utah. Next up was Adna Mehmedovic, who managed 12 kills against UTEP. On the defensive end, Jagoda Bialek has led in digs in their first five matches. She managed 16 digs against Green Bay and Utah, with eight digs against UTEP. Lawson also tied in digs when they played Cal, where they both got ten, and Kate Lijic got nine against Purdue.
Heading to California, the Aggies boast confidence in having four international players who are all freshmen. Andrea Simovski, Jagoda Bialek, Kate Lijic and Mara Stiglic. Fans can follow the Aggies in these three matches and others 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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