Utah State Aggies

Sept. 25, 2012

LOGAN, Utah -

Thursday, Sept. 27 - 6 p.m. (MT)
UTAH STATE at Louisiana Tech
Thomas Assembley Center (8,000)
Ruston, La.

Saturday, Sept. 29 - 1 p.m. (MT)
UTAH STATE at UT Arlington
College Park Center (7,000)
Arlington, Texas

Follow all the action with "Gametracker" and "Watch Live" links at UtahStateAggies.com

USU Volleyball Notes at Louisiana Tech and UT Arlington

STORYLINES
• Utah State volleyball goes back on the road after a short two-match homestand, playing a pair of Western Athletic Conference road matches at Ruston, La., against Louisiana Tech on Thursday, Sept. 27 and at Arlington, Texas against league newcomer UT Arlington on Saturday, Sept. 29.
• USU has a series advantage against both of this week's opponents, holding a 13-1 series advantage over LA Tech as well as a 7-5 edge over UT Arlington.
• Utah State is making the trek to Ruston, La., for the eighth season in a row, while the Aggies will be making their first trip to Arlington, Texas since 1990 and only the third all-time trip there.
• USU is 13-1 against LA Tech, winning the last five meetings in the series, while the Aggies have lost the last three meetings with the Mavericks, but still lead the all-time series, 7-5.
• Sophomore setter Paige Neves enters the weekend with 1,323 assists, cracking into the USU career assists top 10, taking over the No. 10 spot from Mindi Jackson (1995-96) with 1,280 assists in Thursday's win over Seattle... Neves now needs 172 more assists for the No. 9 spot held by Kalei Arnold (1992-95) with 1,495 assists.
• Last weekend, senior outside hitter Josselyn White also reached the USU top 10 for career total blocks, now with 180, tying Melissa Schoepf (1997-2000) for ninth, and her next block will give her sole possession of the No. 9 spot.

LIVE VIDEO
Both of this weekend's road matches as well as all Utah State home matches are streamed on the Internet by clicking on the "Watch Live" link at www.UtahStateAggies.com, the official web site of USU athletics. Fans will need to pay a small fee to watch the match.

LOOKING AT UTAH STATE
USU has an 8-5 overall and 3-1 WAC record after going 1-1 on the weekend... The Aggies edged Seattle in five sets on Thursday, before getting swept by Idaho on Saturday, snapping USU's three-match win streak and denying the Aggies their first 4-0 WAC start since 2005.

Utah State continues to lead the WAC overall in blocking at 2.99 blocks per set and the Aggies also are third in the league in WAC only matches at 2.87 blocks per set... USU also is fourth overall in the WAC in attack percentage (.199) as well as seventh in WAC only matches (.178)... With 11.20 assists per set, USU is sixth overall while ranking fourth in conference only matches with 11.67 aps... USU is also sixth overall in kills per set (12.12) while ranking fourth in league only matches (12.47)... A 1.12 aces per set average ranks the Aggies sixth in the WAC overall while they are ninth in WAC only matches with 0.93... USU also is seventh in the league overall with 13.29 digs per set while ranking fourth in WAC only matches with 15.93 dps.

Senior opposite side hitter Shay Sorensen (North Ogden, Utah), adds 2.84 kills per set overall, ranking ninth in the WAC, as well as tied for seventh in WAC only matches with 3.40 kps... Sorensen also is sixth in both overall points per set (3.51) and WAC only kills points per set (3.97)... Sorensen has logged a double-double in four of USU's last seven matches.

Sophomore outside hitter Rachel Orr (Thatcher, Ariz.) leads USU and is eighth in the WAC overall with 2.88 kills per set, ranking fifth in WAC only with 3.86 kps... Orr also is 10th in WAC only matches in points per set (3.53).

Redshirt-freshman middle blocker Elle Brainard (Saratoga Springs, Utah) leads the Aggies and is second in the WAC in both overall blocks per set (1.51) and conference only matches (2.14)... Brainard also is third in the WAC overall in hitting percentage (.317)... With 74 total blocks, Brainard leads the league for total blocks as well as third in WAC only matches with 24... The 1.51 blocks per set ranks Brainard tied for ninth in the NCAA statistics.

Senior outside hitter Josselyn White (Smithfield, Utah) has now played in the Aggies' last four matches after missing the previous four and a half matches with illness... White is 10th overall in the WAC in points per set (3.31).

Sophomore setter Paige Neves (Otto, Wyo.) is fourth in the WAC overall with 9.76 assists per set and is third in WAC only matches with 10.47 assists per set... Neves became the 12th Aggie volleyball player to reach the 1,000 career assists milestone when USU played in San Diego, Calif., and now with 1,323 assists, Neves has cracked into the top 10, taking over the No. 10 spot from Mindi Jackson (1995-96) with 1,280 assists... Neves needs 172 more assists for the No. 9 spot held by Kalei Arnold (1992-95) with 1,495 assists.

Sophomore middle blocker Kaitlyn VanHoff (Draper, Utah) is second on the team and third in the WAC overall for blocks with 1.27 blocks per set, ranking tied for fourth in the league with 62 total blocks... VanHoff is seventh in WAC only matches with 1.07 blocks per set... She also is 55th in the NCAA in blocks per set with the 1.27 bps.

Sophomore libero Ashlan Rogers (Highland, Utah) climbed from seventh to third overall in the WAC in digs per set (3.96) as well as leading the WAC in conference only matches with 5.40 digs per set... Rogers also is second in the WAC overall in service aces per set (0.37).

AGGIES 10TH IN BLOCKING IN NCAA STATS
With its 2.99 blocks per set team average, Utah State leads the WAC and is 10th in the NCAA statistics... Texas leads the nation with 3.25 bps.

DUBOSE FOR 100 PLEASE ALEX
USU head coach Grayson DuBose earned his 100th career win on Thursday with the Aggies' win over Seattle... DuBose, who is in his seventh-year as Aggie head coach, has a 100-94 (.515) record... With USU's four-set win at Cal State Fullerton on Sept. 17, 2011, DuBose moved ahead of former Aggie head coach Burt Fuller (2001-05) and into second-place all-time at USU for career wins... With his 100 wins, DuBose becomes just the second coaching position to reach 100 wins... Marilyn McReavy and Mary Jo Peppler hold the school record with 209 wins as they were co-head coaches from 1976-81.

AGGIES AGAINST THE WEEKEND FOES
Utah State is a combined 20-6 against its weekend opponents... USU is making the trek to Ruston, La. for the eighth season in a row, while the Aggies will be making their first trip to Arlington, Texas since 1990 for the UTA Tournament and only the third all-time trip there... USU is 13-1 against LA Tech, winning the last five in the series, while the Aggies have lost the last three meetings with the Mavericks, but still lead the all-time series, 7-5.

LOUISIANA TECH - Utah State is 13-1 all-time against Louisiana Tech, which includes a 6-1 road record... USU has swept the season series with LTU the last two years, winning in Logan in three sets and in Ruston in five sets in 2010 while winning in four at Ruston before sweeping them at Logan last year... The Aggies' lone loss against the Lady Techsters was during the 2009 season in Ruston in five sets.

UT ARLINGTON - The Aggies are 7-5 overall against the Mavericks, with UTA having won the last three meetings... USU and UTA have only met three times with one team serving as the home team with the other nine meetings happening on neutral courts, including three in 1981 and twice in 1980... The Aggies and Mavericks first met in 1977, meeting nine times from 1977 to 1981, but have only met three times since, in 1990, 2006 and 2008.

TURNING PAIGE 1,000 IN RECORD BOOK
Sophomore setter Paige Neves became the 12th Aggie player to reach the 1,000 assists milestone a few weeks ago in San Diego... Neves broke into the USU career assists list as her 1,323 career assists past Mindi Jackson (1995-96) with 1,280 assists... Neves needs 172 more assists for the No. 9 spot held by Kalei Arnold (1992-95) with 1,495 assists.

Assists
1) 4520 Chelsea Fowles 2007-10
2) 3942 Carrie Steverson 1988-91
3) 3533 Lori Sargent-McKnight 1996-99
4) 2809 Chelsi Neves 2000-01
5) 2618 Stephanie Maurer 1984-87
6) 2265 Andrea Delsigne 2001-03
7) 2025 Randi Winn 1992-93
8) 1965 Dominique Arsenault 2003-05
9) 1495 Kalei Arnold 1992-95
10 1323 Paige Neves 2009-Pres.
11) 1280 Mindi Jackson 1995-96
12) 1139 Heather Hillier 2005-08
13) 937 Zuzana Cerniansa 2002-05

WHITE IN UTAH STATE TOP 10 FOR BOTH ATTACKS AND BLOCKS, CLOSING IN ON KILLS
Senior outside hitter Josselyn White ranks 10th all-time at Utah State with 2,532 career attacks and is 153 attacks away from tying Niki Conner (1995-98) for ninth all-time with 2,685 career attacks... Last weekend, White also reached the USU top 10 for career total blocks, now with 180, tying Melissa Schoepf (1997-2000)... White also is approaching the USU top 10 career lists in three other categories... She has 702 kills, needing 161 to crack into the career kills list... White has also totaled 26 career solo blocks, needing 11 more to reach the No. 10 spot on the career solo block list and logging 254 career block assists, needing four more to tie for 10.

SORENSEN CHASING AGGIES' TOP 10 FOR KILLS AND HITTING PERCENTAGE
Senior opposite side hitter Shay Sorensen has 680 kills, needing 183 to break into the career top 10 kills list as well as having a .198 career hitting percentage, needing to improve by .028 to tie for the No. 10 mark on the career hitting percentage list.

SCOUTING THE WEEKEND FOES
LOUISIANA TECH - The Lady Techsters are 3-12 overall and 0-3 in WAC action... LA Tech has lost its last four in a row overall as part of a 17-match WAC losing streak... In recent matches, the Lady Techsters lost at New Mexico State in four sets on Thursday before getting swept at Denver on Saturday.

LA Tech is sixth in the WAC in both blocks per set (2.02) and digs per set (13.75) in all matches, while ranking ninth or 10th in all other categories... in WAC only matches, the Lady Techsters are sixth in blocks per set (2.09) and seventh in digs (13.45) while ranking ninth or 10th in the other stats.

The Lady Techsters do not have anyone in the WAC stats overall top 10 for hitting percentage, kills, digs, service aces or points per set... Junior middle blocker Caitlin Germany is seventh in the WAC in blocks per set (1.10) while sophomore setter Maria Coelho is eighth overall in assists per set (8.02)... Coelho is sixth in the league in conference only matches for assists per set (8.82), as well as seventh in service aces per set for league only matches (0.36)... Sophomore libero Ana Rodrigues is second in conference only stats for digs per set (4.27), averaging 2.55 per set overall... Junior outside hitter Clara Vido leads LA Tech with 2.17 kills per set, adding a team-best 2.56 digs per set... Vido is 10th in WAC only matches for kills per set (3.36) and eighth in conference only matches for points per set (3.82).

LA Tech head coach Adriano de Souza is in his first year as head coach of the Lady Techsters' progam, posting a 3-12 record... Prior to LA Tech, de Souza was an assistant coach at Illinois State for four years.

UT ARLINGTON - The Mavericks enter this weekend with a 5-10 overall and 1-2 WAC record, and will host San Jose State on Thursday... UTA is coming off a pair of three-set losses on the road last week, getting swept at Denver on Thursday and at New Mexico State on Saturday.

UT Arlington's highest ranking in the WAC statistics is third in digs with 15.63 per set... The Maverick also are seventh in the league in both hitting percentage (.174) and opponent hitting percentage (.201), as well as fifth in kills per set (12.26), seventh in assists per set (11.15), seventh in blocks per set (2.02) and seventh in service aces per set (1.09)... UTA is second in WAC only matches for both kills (13.80) and assists (12.40), ranking fourth in hitting percentage (.227), fifth in digs (15.10), tied for seventh in aces (1.00), ninth in opponent hitting percentage (.266) and 10th in blocks (1.50).

The Mavericks are led junior outside hitter Shelby Dickson with a 2.82 kills per set average, ranking 10th in the WAC overall... Dickson also is eighth in the conference with 3.74 digs per set... Sophomore setter Amanda Welsh is third in the WAC overall with 9.91 assists per set while ranking second in WAC only matches with 10.60 aps... Junior middle blocker Charmaine Whitmore is sixth in the WAC overall with 1.10 blocks per set while ranking tied for eighth in WAC only matches with 1.00 bps... Sophomore middle blocker/outside hitter Taylor Gross is sixth in WAC only matches for hitting percentage (.369) and is tied for seventh in conference only matches for kills per set (3.40).

UTA head coach Diane Seymour is in her ninth season with a 127-133 record.

Shay Sorensen TABBED WAC VOLLEYBALL PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Utah State volleyball player Shay Sorensen has been named Western Athletic Conference Volleyball Player of the Week for the week of Sept. 10-16. This is the first-ever WAC Player of the Week honor for Sorensen.

A senior opposite side hitter from North Ogden, Utah, Sorensen averaged 4.30 kills on .296 hitting, 3.30 digs and 0.60 blocks per set in a pair of road wins at UTSA and Texas State. She posted a pair of double-doubles to lead Utah State to its first 2-0 start to WAC action since 2007. In Thursday's four-set win over UTSA, Sorensen logged 15 kills and 11 digs, adding a pair of blocks and a service ace. In Saturday's sweep at Texas State, she tallied a match-high 15 kills on a season-high .353 hitting to go with 12 digs and two blocks.

This is the first WAC Player of the Week honor for a USU vollleyball player since Liz McArthur earned the accolade last season on Oct. 17.

Josselyn White NAMED USU ATHLETE OF THE WEEK
Utah State volleyball player Josselyn White has been named the first America First Credit Union Utah State Student-Athlete of the Week of the 2012-13 school year, for the period ending Sunday, Aug. 26. This award is voted on by a state-wide media panel.

White, a senior outside hitter from Smithfield, Utah (Sky View HS), was named to the Utah State Invitational, sponsored by Gossner Foods, all-tournament team last weekend as she helped USU to a 3-1 record and a second-place finish. During the tournament, White hit .278 (43-13-108) with 43 kills, 34 digs and 10 blocks. White posted a career-high .500 attack percentage (14-0-28) in the win against Portland and logged a career-high 18 digs against Southern Utah.

With 10 total blocks on the weekend, White now has 268 career total blocks, needing just 11 more to break into the USU career top 10 list. It was White's third career all-Tournament Team honor, after being named to last year's Utah State Invitational all-Tournament team and MVP, as well as the Utah Classic all-Tournament Team as a sophomore in 2010.

This is White's first career USU Student-Athlete of the Week accolade.

AGGIES NAMED TO ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAMS HISTORY
With two USU players named to the SDSU Aztec Challenge all-tournament team and three Aggie players being named to the USU Invitational sponsored by Gossner Foods all-Tournament team, Utah State adds to its collection of all-Tournament team honors... Here's a closer look at the current Aggies' all-Tournament team collection:

2012
SDSU Aztec Challenge
Rachel Orr - OH
Elle Brainard - MB

Utah State Invitational
Josselyn White - OH
Elle Brainard - MB
Ashlan Rogers - LIB

2011
Utah State Invitational
Shay Sorensen - OH
Josselyn White - OH - *MVP

2010
Utah Classic
Josselyn White - OH

Montana Invitational
Shay Sorensen - OPP - *MVP

UTAH STATE VERSUS THE STATE OF UTAH
Utah State improved to 30-20 (.600) versus the state of Utah during the last 12 years after going 2-1 against in-state foes in the opening weekend, including a 16-7 (.696) home record... Under seventh-year head coach Grayson DuBose, USU is 14-12 (.538) versus teams from the Beehive State, including an 8-6 (.571) record at home.

UTAH STATE RANKED 10TH IN THE NATION IN BLOCKING LAST SEASON
Utah State ranked 10th in the country in blocking (2.79) last season... Individually, middle blocker Kaitlyn VanHoff ranked 47th in the nation in blocking (1.19), while senior All-American outside hitter Liz McArthur ranked 82nd in the nation in kills per set (3.72) and 98th in points per set (4.17).

UTAH STATE LED THE WAC IN BLOCKING
Utah State finished the 2011 season ranking first in the WAC in blocks (2.79), second in digs (15.05), sixth in hitting percentage (.168), seventh in kills (11.15), seventh in assists (10.38) and eighth in service aces (0.97).

RECAPPING LAST SEASON
Utah State finished the 2011 season with a 17-12 overall mark, posting an even 7-7 WAC record to tied for fourth in the conference... As the No. 4 seed, the Aggies lost to fifth-seeded Fresno State in three sets (25-18, 25-19, 25-10) in the quarterfinals of the WAC Tournament... Opposite side hitter Shay Sorensen earned second-team all-WAC honors following her junior season as she hit .202 and averaged 2.57 kills, 0.71 digs and 0.86 blocks per set... Setter Paige Neves was named to the WAC's all-freshman team in 2011 after hitting .225 and averaging 8.83 assists, 2.48 digs and 0.71 blocks... Sorensen hit .202 last season and averaged 2.57 kills, 0.71 digs and 0.86 blocks per set... Neves ranked seventh in the WAC in assists at 8.83 per set and added 2.48 digs per set as well as 16 service aces, second among the USU returners... Outside hitter Josselyn White was among the WAC leaders statistically last year as she was ninth in kills (2.73), eighth in blocks (1.01) and seventh in points (3.45) per set... Libero Ashlan Rogers averaged 2.61 digs per set as well as leading the team with 23 service aces a season ago as a freshman, while sophomore Kaitlyn VanHoff was fourth in the WAC in blocks at 1.19 per set.

-USU-