USU Volleyball Hosts Fresno State in MW Home Opener

Utah State [University] women's volleyball will host Fresno State Thursday [Oct. 1] night in the Aggies' Mountain West home opener at 7 p.m. USU has been hard to beat at home under head coach Grayson DuBose, posting an overall mark of 68-38 in Logan, including a 7-2 mark in conference home openers.

Utah State enters the contest with an overall record of 4-12, having suffered a pair of losses to begin Mountain West play at Colorado State (3-0) and at Wyoming (3-1) last weekend.

Aggie outside hitters have paced the offense this year, with sophomore Rachel Gale and junior Kaylie Kamalu leading the way with 187 and 185 kills, averaging 3.34 and 3.25 kills per set, respectively. As a unit, USU has hit .144 (620-340-1,941), while opponents have hit .218 (763-331-1,982).

Defensively, junior libero Hannah Gleason has recorded 236 digs, averaging 4.14 per set to rank sixth in the Mountain West. Sophomore middle Carly Lenzen leads the USU block with 48 during the 2015 campaign.

Fresno State enters the match on Thursday with an overall mark of 8-7, including a conference-opening loss against San José State (3-2) last weekend.

The Bulldogs have one of the top offenses in the conference, ranking No. 2 in kills per set (13.58) and No. 3 in assists per set (11.91). Overall, Fresno State has hit .198 (747-350-2,006) on the year with junior outside Aleisha Coates leading the way with 166 kills, averaging 3.02 per set. Junior setter Brooke Legaux directs the attack, totaling 503 assists and averaging 9.49 per set.

Fresno State also boasts one of the best digging units in the conference, ranking No. 2 in the league with 15.15 per set. Junior libero Maggie Eppright is tops on the team and in the Mountain West with 5.02 digs per set, having totaled 276 on the year. Sophomore outside Carly Scarbrough leads the block with 46 so far this season.

Utah State owns a 14-11 advantage in the all-time series, but split the series with the Bulldogs last season with the home sides capturing the wins.

Utah State will continue its weekend homestand Saturday, hosting UNLV at 11 a.m. Fans can purchase admission for the match for just $1 with a football ticket stub for the Colorado State game later that day.

Fans can purchase tickets for the 2015 season by contacting the USU Ticket Office at the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum or by phone by calling 1-888-USTATE-1 or (435) 797-0305.

Fans can follow the Aggie volleyball program on Twitter, on Facebook or on Instagram. Aggie fans can also follow the Utah State athletic program on Twitter, on Facebook at Utah State University Athletics or on Instagram.

Additional Aggie sports news is available at the Athletics website.