Helgesen goes down, Utah State struggles in 3–0 loss to Utes
Utah State Volleyball entered Sept. 6’s rivalry match eager for a rebound after losing to No. 9 Texas A&M in four sets the night before. For the first part of the opening set, it looked like the Aggies might have found their footing. The Wayne Estes Center was buzzing, the offense was flowing and USU had energy on defense. Then, six points in, sophomore outside hitter Loryn Helgesen went down with an apparent leg injury.
Helgesen did not return, and Utah State never fully adjusted. The Aggies fell 3–0 — 25–22, 25–19, 25–16 — to No. 21 Utah, struggling to replace her presence at the net while hitting -.027 as a team.
Head coach Rob Neilson didn’t mince words about the impact.
“Losing your best player — that’s a big deal,” Neilson said. “She’s a big part of what we’re trying to do, so we didn’t respond well after that. We want people who are going to step up and show intensity, and I thought we played a little panicked and nervous.”
JACK LEWIS BURTON Loryn Helgesen, falls to the ground after injuring her leg playing against Utah at the Wayne Estes Center on Sep. 6.
Utah State hung with the Utes in the opening frame. Andrea Simovski hammered home kill after kill, finishing the night with a team-best 10. Setter Kaylie Kofe kept Utah guessing by mixing in a soft tap at the net and even scoring on a surprise lob. Defensive specialist Kendal Thompson came up with a big ace and a handful of digs to keep rallies alive.
But Utah’s blocking quickly became the difference. Emrie Moea‘i, Allie Grossenbach and Leah Wilton-LaBoy each closed off Aggie swings late in the set, and USU’s offense sputtered when the first passes didn’t allow Kofe to run tempo. Utah ended the set on a 6–3 run, sealing it 25–22.
Neilson adjusted in the second, rolling out a bigger lineup with Ava Napierski and Ava Nakai at the net. The Aggies briefly controlled play as Tierney Barlow delivered an ace, Simovski punched a ball over the top and USU forced a net violation. But Utah countered with its own serving pressure and continued to split blockers with clean swings from Kamryn Gibadlo and Grossenbach.
USU closed the gap to two points thanks to a 5–1 run capped by a Simovski ace, but a pair of misfires in transition and another Utah block flipped momentum. The Utes closed out the set 25–19.
As Utah State’s reigning all-conference blocker, Barlow was efficient but quiet, hitting .364 with just five kills.
“We didn’t pass well enough to get her enough sets for most of that match,” Neilson said. “And then when we did pass well enough, it was so rare that they were basically just keying on her. So it gets difficult to kill a ball against physical players when you’re not right.”
By the third set, the Aggies’ offense unraveled. Kofe, playing in the front row at times, provided effort defensively but couldn’t compensate for the lack of size at the net. Simovski and Barlow briefly sparked the crowd with back-to-back kills, and USU’s bench provided a lift. Junior setter Olivia Tukuafu notched a kill on her first swing, and Lauren Larkin combined with Delaney Lawson for a block in a 4–0 run.
Still, Utah controlled the frame. Gibadlo, the nation’s No. 10 scorer entering the weekend, repeatedly broke through the Aggie block, and Moea‘i capped the night with her fourth block to seal a 25–16 win and the sweep.
The numbers told the story as the Utes out-blocked Utah State 14–7, held the Aggies to negative hitting and limited Barlow’s production.
Neilson and his squad have spoken about their goal of becoming a top-25 program, but the tough loss, compounded by Helgesen’s injury, left them demoralized.
“It was a gut check,” Neilson said. “It just felt like, ‘Man, we’re right there.’ We weren’t as good as Texas A&M yesterday, but in terms of playing with this team, I thought we had every opportunity tonight, and it’s really frustrating that we didn’t show up after [Helgesen] went down.”
The upcoming schedule offers no reprieve. The Aggies travel to face No. 6 Stanford next week — arguably their toughest test of the season.
“All of our goals are still out in front of us,” Neilson said. “We wanted to play tough teams so we could learn. Now it’s about executing and handling adversity. That’s what will carry into conference play.”
Despite the setback, Utah State showed flashes of depth with new contributors off the bench, and Simovski continues to emerge as a go-to scorer. The Aggies now face the challenge of reshaping their identity without Helgesen, who Neilson said would likely be out for “at least a few games.”
Utah State opens next weekend on the road at Stanford on Sept. 12, then heads to Palo Alto on Sept. 13 for a matchup with UC Davis.