Preseason praise fuels USU Volleyball’s title ambitions
After a transitional 2024 season filled with highs and lows, Utah State volleyball enters 2025 with renewed confidence and continuity.
With the program’s youngest roster in recent memory maturing rapidly, a strong core of returning sophomores combined with experienced upperclassmen could help USU reclaim its place atop the Mountain West.
The MW preseason coaches poll projects the Aggies to do just that. Utah State was picked to finish first in the conference, earning seven of 12 first-place votes and 114 total points. Senior middle blocker Tierney Barlow and sophomore setter Kaylie Kofe were also named to the all-Mountain West preseason team.
Barlow, who has collected numerous career awards, called the early recognition a “great honor” but said her focus remains on the season ahead.
“I feel like with the preseason awards, I don’t take it too much to heart,” Barlow said. “Rob [Neilson] tells us that it’s earned, not given. So, we’re given these amazing awards, but we still have to work hard in the gym and earn that title of number one in the conference.”
The team retained nearly its entire roster from a year ago. Last year’s group included 12 first-year players, and the team was able to overcome a 3–10 start to finish 15–14 overall and 12–6 in Mountain West play, earning a share of second place in the conference standings.
Barlow believes last season’s late surge laid the foundation for 2025.
“The way we ended kind of gave us some grit on our shoulder,” Barlow said. “It felt really good to go as far as we did with such a new team. Because of the growth we had last season, this offseason was so much cleaner. We were able to work hard and not focus so much on all the things we needed to learn.”
Under head coach Rob Neilson, the Aggies claimed three straight Mountain West titles from 2021–23. On the heels of that success, last season’s team struggled early against a tough nonconference schedule featuring ranked opponents such as Purdue, USC and BYU. Despite the slow start, the team’s rapid improvement over the final two months positioned the Aggies as a potentially dangerous team heading into 2025.
“We look at each other as a coaching staff, and we say every day that we are so much improved,” Neilson said. “We’re so much further along than we were last year.”
This year’s non-conference schedule will be even more challenging than last year’s. The Aggies will open with matches against San Diego, Hawaii and Marquette — all teams receiving votes in the AVCA Top 25 — before returning home to face No. 9 Texas A&M and No. 23 Utah. Road matches against No. 6 Stanford and volleyball powerhouse BYU follow soon after.
“We schedule to test ourselves,” Neilson said. “I want to be great in November. I want to win another Mountain West championship. This group is much more prepared than we were a year ago because of that continuity.”
Barlow, the team’s most consistent contributor last season, enters the 2025 season as the lone senior on the roster. She ranked No. 3 in the conference with a .383 hitting percentage last fall and added 220 kills and 26 aces.
“She’s become the de facto mom on the team,” Neilson said. “She just has this nature to bring our team together and kind of takes care of everybody. It’s really nice when one of the best players at their position in our conference also becomes a big-time voice in your locker room and is pushing the culture in the right direction.”
Barlow said the role comes naturally after learning from last year’s seniors.
“It doesn’t really feel like a leadership role — it just feels like a whole family,” she said. “We’ve had the past year to build those relationships, and I’m really excited for how that’s going to display on the court.
Tierney Barlow spikes the ball against Fresno State on Oct. 26, 2024.
Kofe also returns after a standout freshman season in which she ranked No. 4 in the league with 958 assists and earned an all-conference honorable mention. According to Neilson, her sophomore leap could be significant.
“There’s a lot of nuances to the setting game that she’s just starting to scratch into,” he said. “She’s been phenomenal.”
The outside hitting group is deep and features several young players with starting experience. Sophomore Andrea Simovski led the team in kills last year with 277 and was named Mountain West Freshman of the Week in early November. Croatian sophomore Mara Štiglic also impressed in limited action, averaging 2.79 kills per set over 15 matches. Transfers Ava Nakai from Towson University and Cala Cooper from the University of North Dakota, along with returners Delaney Lawson and Loryn Helgesen, add additional options on the pin.
Helgeson has stood out this summer and according to Neilson, has been the best player in the gym this offseason.
“Helgeson is a scary blocker on the right and just shuts down everybody,” Neilson said. “We have a ton more athleticism and power, and players are understanding how to play the game.”
The Aggies expect improvement in their back-row defense, which finished last in the Mountain West in digs per set at 11.96 last season. Returning liberos Kendel Thompson and Jagoda Bialek both saw significant time last year, while first-year player Sadie Warren arrives with strong credentials after totaling over 1,100 career digs at Wylie High School in Texas.
“We just have this group that is constantly on each other to get better,” Neilson said. “I would imagine all three of those players are going to see significant time for us whether they’re in the libero jersey or coming in as defensive specialists.”
Utah State’s blocking numbers — 2.12 per set — also ranked near the bottom of the conference a year ago, but development at the middle blocker position could change that. In addition to Barlow, the Aggies are bringing back sophomore Ava Napierski and redshirt freshman Lauren Larkin. First-year player Ava Martin, a state champion out of Idaho, will also compete for time at the net.
“Blocking is one of the toughest skills to learn at this level,” Neilson said. “We’ve had all spring to develop, and I think we’ve made massive improvements.”
Barlow and her group have made blocking an offseason priority.
“We’ve really hyper-focused on just closing those blocks even more, being more explosive with our moves and being more patient as we read the setter,” Barlow said. “I’m really excited to see how much we grow in getting those touches on the blocks.”
The team’s serving, which finished middle of the pack in the conference, could become a strength with players like Simovski, Thompson and Kofe all returning after combining for nearly 100 aces last season.
After losing in the quarterfinals of the conference championship to Boise State a year ago, the Aggies will look to take the next step with a group that now has a full season of experience. With stronger cohesion and fewer unknowns entering the season, Utah State appears ready to reestablish itself among the conference’s top contenders.
Neilson sees the opportunity for even bigger things as the program prepares to join the Pac-12 in 2026.
“We want to win the last championship of the Mountain West and the first championship of the Pac-12,” he said. “I feel like this is a golden age of Utah State Athletics, and there’s a lot to be excited about.”
The Aggies open their season on Aug. 29 against San Diego at the Rainbow Wahine Volleyball Classic in Honolulu.