Aggie athletics: year in review

Football

Overall record: 6-7

Conference record (rank): 4-4

Following a 3-9 campaign in 2016 and missing out on the opportunity to play in a bowl game for the first time in five seasons, the pressure was on for this year’s team. In head coach Matt Wells’ fifth year at the helm, the season got off to a hopeful start. The Aggies battled tightly with No. 9 Wisconsin on the road, a game which was tied 10-10 at halftime before Wisconsin went on a 49-0 run in the second half to crush the hopes of the Aggie faithful. The team went on to pick up victories over Idaho State, San Jose State, UNLV, New Mexico, Hawai’i, and a 40-24 rivalry win over BYU.

The offense started slow, ranking near the bottom of the conference in most statistical categories through the first seven games when Wells made the decision to start freshman quarterback Jordan Love in place of seasoned-veteran Kent Myers. This decision provided a spark for the offense and provided valuable in-game experience for the potential quarterback of the future in Love.

Following a 6-6 regular season campaign and posting a 4-4 Mountain West record, the team was invited to play in the Arizona Bowl in Tucson, Ariz., the sixth bowl game in seven seasons for Utah State. There, they took on former WAC rival New Mexico State in a tightly contested game. NMSU came away victorious with a 26-20 overtime win, the first bowl game win in 57 years for the program.

On the season, Love led the team in passing with 1631 yards, eight touchdowns and six interceptions. Senior RB LaJuan Hunt led the ground game with 828 yards and 11 touchdowns while averaging 4.9 yards per carry. Junior WR Ron’quavion Tarver was the team’s biggest threat at receiver, catching 48 passes for 569 yards and seven touchdowns. Defensively, senior Jalen Davis had five interceptions for three touchdowns, and Suli Tamaivena led the way with 68 total tackles.

Men’s Basketball

Overall record: 17-17

Conference record (rank): 8-10 (7th)

In what ended up being head coach Tim Duryea’s final season at the helm of the men’s basketball team, the Aggies had an up-and-down season marked by injuries and surprises throughout. A 7-6 non-conference start was remembered by many Aggie fans because of losses to Big Sky teams Weber State and Portland State, and an 0-3 record against in-state teams. Especially early on in the season, the team battled injuries to several key players and had to dive deep into the depth chart for production.

Conference play got off to a positive start, as the team won three of its first four games including wins over an 11-5 Fresno State team and the first Aggie victory at UNLV in 24 years. The team then fell into a slump, losing four straight games and placing itself in the middle of the pack. Back-to-back losses to Air Force and San Jose State towards the end of the season left fans doubtful heading into the Mountain West tournament.

At the MW tournament, the seventh-seeded Aggies posted a 76-65 first round victory over ninth-seed Colorado State. In the quarterfinals round, USU took on No. 2 seed Boise State in a thrilling game which came down to the final buzzer. The Aggies pulled off the upset of the Broncos, winning 78-75 and advancing to the semifinals for the first time since joining the Mountain West. There, the team’s season came to an end as it fell to New Mexico 83-68.

The sophomore-led backcourt of Sam Merrill and Koby McEwen contributed to much of USU’s success. Merrill led all Aggies with 16.3 ppg and 107 assists while shooting 46% from three, while McEwen picked up 15.6 ppg along with 5.4 rpg and 97 assists.

Immediately following the season, USU announced the firing of Duryea, filling his position with South Dakota’s Craig Smith.

Women’s Basketball

Overall record: 7-23

Conference record (rank): 5-13 (9th)

After a 17-15 campaign which led to a post-season tournament and a three-year extension for head coach Jerry Finkbeiner in 2016-17, this season didn’t turn out nearly so well for the USU women’s basketball team. A half-court buzzer-beating shot by UC Irvine set the Aggies out to a 0-1 start, a game which set the tone for much of the season.

A 2-10 non-conference record included losses to a Southern Utah team who would go on to have a 3-27 record, Idaho State, Utah Valley, and a 39-point loss to Oregon State. One of the lone highlights of the season came as the Aggies defeated BYU in Provo 76-69, the first Aggie win over the Cougars in 39 years.

Conference play wasn’t much easier for the team, as it went 5-13 in MW play. While the Aggies went 6-7 in games played at home, they were just 1-16 in games played away from Logan. Earning a No. 9 seed in the conference tournament, USU faced Air Force in the first round. The teams split the regular-season series 1-1, but it was Air Force which came out victorious in Las Vegas, ending the Utah State’s season with a 68-54 loss.

Sophomore guard Olivia West was the lone Aggie who averaged double-figure points per game, ending with 12.3 ppg and 42 assists. Junior forward Rachel Brewster added 9.9 ppg with 4.2 rpg, while sophomore forward Shannon Dufficy lead the team in the rebounding game with 8.2 rpg.  

Gymnastics

Overall record: 9-11

Conference record (rank): 2-4 (3rd)

Gymnastics finished with its best winning percentage (.450) since 2000 (.480) and finished third in the Mountain Rim Gymnastics Conference Championships. The team had a dual-meet record of 2-6, the same as the 2017 season.

As a team, they climbed into the record books, with multiple scores reaching into the top-10 in program history, including a 196.500 on the team’s senior night against SUU which ranks third all-time in school history. They also scored a 196.200 against BYU which, at the time, tied for seventh-highest all-time (now eighth following the meet against SUU).

The team sent five women to the NCAA Regional Championships, juniors Madison Ward, Emily Briones, sophomore Brittany Jeppesen and freshmen Autumn DeHarde and Mikaela Meyer. The five girls combined to do seven routines, completing all of them without falls.

Ward set a USU record at regionals with a 9.925 mark on the floor routine. It tied Ward’s personal career-high and was fifth overall at the event. She also tied for 21st on vault with a 9.800, which is tied for eighth all-time for Aggies at regionals.

DeHarde also competed in two events. She scored a 9.775 on the beam (T-15th) and on floor (T-32). Jeppesen competed in bars, tying for 12th with a 9.850, tied for third in school history at regionals. Meyer finished tied for 29th on vault at 9.775 and Briones tied for 19th on beam with a 9.725.

The team had no seniors and will be able to retain all athletes in the rotation for next season.

Women’s Soccer

Overall record: 9-7-3

Conference record (rank): 4-5-2 (8th)

The team finished eighth in conference play with a 4-5-2 record in the Mountain West and a 9-7-3 record overall. It was the ninth straight season the team has finished with an overall record above .500 but it was the first time since 2004 they have finished with a conference record below .500.

USU did not qualify for the Mountain West Tournament, the second time since joining the MW in 2013 that the team did not qualify for the postseason tournament.

Freshman phenom Ashley Cardozo led the team with 24 points (nine goals and six assists) and earned all-Mountain West honors along with being named to the all-conference first team and the all-newcomer team. She became the second freshman in program history to be named to an all-conference first team, Chandra Salmon-Cristensen being the first in 2008.

Wesley Hamblin broke the all-time career assist record for the program, ending her USU career with 20 assists — seven this season — and now ranks sixth in total points (50) in program history.

On the season, the team had seven shutouts, five by senior goalkeeper Sara Cobb, and finished fourth in the conference in goals allowed per game at 1.1.

The team will say goodbye to senior class of seven players: Cobb, Hamblin, Kacey Erickson, Bailee Hammond, Mikayla Howes, Rachelle Parish, and Erin Rickenbach. Those seven accounted for 34.2 percent of total minutes and 27 of 72 points, including nine goals and nine assists.

Women’s Volleyball

Overall record: 16-14

Conference record (rank): 8-10 (T-6th)

The volleyball team finished its fall season with four wins in their final seven matches to seal a winning record for the first time since 2013, the team’s first year in the Mountain West.

USU started out conference play by going 3-0, the best conference start since 2013, but then went 1-7 in its next eight conference games before the 4-3 finish.

The 8-10 record in league play matches last season’s mark and also helped head coach Grayson DuBose notch his 100th conference victory with USU.

Senior Lauren Anderson earned all-Mountain West honors for the second straight year. She totalled 446 kills through the season, which ranks ninth for a single season. Anderson is the first Aggie to have 400-plus kills since Liz McArthur in 2011. Anderson, alongside fellow senior Kayla DeCoursey, finished their careers at ninth and tenth, respectively, for best career hitting percentage in school history.

Tasia Taylor, a junior libero, had 525 digs on the year, 25 of those came in an Oct. 28 win over UNLV which set a single-game record. Her season total is fourth all-time.

Club Hockey

Overall record: 31-7-2

In his 10th year as head coach, Jon Eccles led the team to its seventh appearance in the ACHA D2 National Tournament in the last eight years. The team also won the Mountain West Collegiate Hockey League tournament for the fourth straight year.

The team’s 31 wins were the second-most in Eccles tenure and most since 2010-11 when the team won 38 games. USU finished the regular season by winning 10 of its final 11 games which helped them gain the No. 2 rank in the ACHA’s West region.

At the national tournament, the team lost its first two games, the first was a 3-2 overtime loss to eventual champion Lindenwood and the second was a 4-2 defeat at the hands of the University of Massachusetts-Amherst. In what would be the final game of the season, USU beat the regular season No. 1 overall team Penn State 5-3.

Morgan McJimsey led the team in points with 64 (30 goals, 34 assists) and was selected to the ACHA Select Team that traveled to Europe during the mid-season break in December. Josh Kerkvliet had 63 points and was one of three players on the team to appear in all 40 of the team’s games in the regular season. Austin Willenborg, the first string goalkeeper, was 16-4 and had the second-highest save percentage in the ACHA among goalies with at least 1,000 minutes played.

Last week, the team announced that Eccles will step down as head coach of the team. A new coach has not yet been hired. Eccles ended his career with an overall record of 264-87-16 and a 250-71-15 record in the regular season.

Softball

Overall record: 18-34

Conference record: 7-17 (8th)

A year after the first 30-win season since 1996 by going 33-18, the team posted a near opposite record and failed to notche 10 conference wins for the first time since going 6-18 in 2014 (the team’s first year in the Mountain West).

Head coach Steve Johnson, the second-winningest coach in program history, was put on administrative leave during the season and missed 16 games. Utah State did not disclose the reason for his leave of absence.

The team was led by seniors Amee Aarhus and Brina Buttavacoli who batted .339 and .327 respectively. Buttacavoli, the starting catcher, finished with the best fielding percentage among starters with a .990 mark, followed closely by first baseman Bailee Trapp (.987)

USU had the best stolen base average in the conference with 1.6 per game. That mark was 33rd in the nation. Senior Jazmin Clarke led the team with 28 stolen bases which is the ranks second all-time for a single season (Clarke already held the single-season record with her 2017 season and her 2016 mark is third). Freshman Leah Molina was second with 23 and Mia Maher had 14 to move into second all-time in career bases stolen (behind Clarke) with 47.

Men’s Tennis

Overall record: 19-9

Conference record: 7-0 (1st)

Led by 2018 MW Coach of the Year, James Wilson, the tennis team went undefeated in regular season conference play and won the regular season and tournament conference titles for the second year in a row. In just his second year, Wilson became just the second men’s tennis coach to win coach of the year (the other was Clancy Shields in 2016) and has a record of 42-18 and 13-1 in conference play.

During the season, USU set a program record for highest ITA ranking at No. 37 and got a signature win over then-No. 26 Old Dominion in Tampa, Fla.

The team did not lose a home game all season (just the second time in the history), beat BYU for the fourth straight year and qualified for the NCAA Tournament for the second consecutive year, but lost their first game to No. 8 TCU 4-1. USU’s ranking heading into the tournament was No. 50.

The team earned three all-Mountain West distinctions: senior Jaime Barajas and sophomore Sergiu Bucur in singles and Barajas and freshman Jose Carvajal as a doubles team.

Barajas became the program’s all-time leader in combined wins (singles and doubles) and ended his career holding the record for most singles wins, total wins and doubles dual match wins.

Women’s Tennis

Overall record: 14-12

Conference record: 3-2 (T-4)

The 14 wins for women’s tennis this season tied a program-high. Head coach Sean McInerney, in his fifth season, was the coach of the other 14-win team (which was the 2014-15 team). It was the fifth straight year the team has won at least 11 games and the fourth time in five years the team has finished win an overall record above .500. Before McInerney’s tenure, the women’s team had reached 11 wins three times and finished above .500 twice.

The team also finished above .500 in conference play, which was not only the first time the women’s team has done that in the Mountain West, it was the first time the team has ever finished above .500 in conference play in the program’s history.

USU earned the No. 10 seed in the Mountain West Championship and won its first-round contest against Air Force, but lost in the quarterfinals to Fresno State.

Freshman Sasha Pisareva earned all-Mountain West honors in singles, joining McKenzie Davis as the only women’s team players to receive all-conference honors as a freshman.