Sept. 25, 2001

LOGAN, Utah -

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Release #5 * 9/24/01

Sept. 27 * #19 Santa Barbara (3-5, 1-1) * 7 pm
Sept. 29 * Cal Poly (8-2, 2-1) * 4 pm

THIS WEEK - Utah State continues its three-game homestand against UC Santa Barbara on Thursday at 7 p.m. and versus Cal Poly on Saturday at 4 p.m. in the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum. UCSB is 3-5 on the season and 1-1 in the Big West, while Cal Poly is 8-2 overall and 2-1 in conference play. Anyone carrying a ticket to the USU-Oregon football game on Saturday night at 7 p.m. will be able to get into the USU-Cal Poly volleyball match for free.

SERIES HISTORY- Utah State is 4-25 all-time against Santa Barbara after splitting the season series last year. USU has lost two of the schools' last three meetings, and prior to last season's win in Logan, hadn't defeated the Gauchos since 1978. The Aggies own a 3-9 record against Cal Poly, sweeping the 2000 season series. USU's only other victory came in 1980 at the SDSU Invitational.

LAST MEETINGS - The last time Utah State and UCSB met was Oct. 27, 2000 in Santa Barbara, Calif., with the Gauchos recording a three-game win by scores of 15-8, 15-4 and 15-9. The last time the two teams met in Logan was Sept., 30, 2000, with USU notching a three-game win by scores of 15-12, 15-6 and 15-0. USU and Cal Poly last met on Oct. 28 in San Luis Obispo, Calif., as the Aggies defeated the Mustangs in four games, 16-18, 15-10, 15-10 and 15-5. Prior to that, the teams went five games in Logan on Sept. 28, 2000. USU rallied from two games back to take that match 3-2 with scores of 12-15, 11-15, 15-4, 15-10 and 15-9.

SCOUTING THE GAUCHOS AND MUSTANGS - UCSB is 3-5 on the season with wins over North Carolina (3-0), Creighton (3-0) and UC Irvine (3-0). Its five losses have come against Wisconsin (3-1), Nebraska (3-0), Santa Clara (3-0), USC (3-0) and Long Beach State (3-2). The Gauchos are hitting .186 as a team, while their opponents are hitting .224. Junior middle blocker Danielle Bauer leads the club with 75 kills, averaging 4.69 per game and 1.06 blocks per game. The Mustangs are 8-2 on the season and 2-1 in the Big West, with conference wins over Cal State Northridge (3-1) and UC Irvine (3-0). They lost at Long Beach State, 3-0. Cal Poly opened its season with six consecutive wins, including posting a 3-1 record at the Baylor Classic in Waco, Texas.

HOME SWEET HOME - Utah State has had tremendous success at the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum over the past two years recording a 18-4 (.818) record. Last season, USU was 9-2 (.818) at home which was the most home wins since the 1982 team went 11-2. In conference play, USU is 16-3 (.842) at home over the past two years.

NEXT WEEK- Utah State travels to UC Riverside on Oct. 5 and Cal State Fullerton on Oct. 6. USU is 1-3 all-time against the Highlanders and 11-13 against the Titans.

HEAD COACH BURT FULLER - Burt Fuller is in his first season as head coach of the Utah State Volleyball program and his first season overall as a head coach. Fuller spent the past seven seasons as an assistant coach at UCLA as the Bruins advanced to the NCAA Tournament six times including a national runner-up finish in 1994. UCLA advanced to the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament in each of the past two seasons. In his seven seasons at UCLA, Fuller coached 23 all-conference selections and five All-American's. As a collegiate head coach, he is 3-3 (.500) overall.

AGGIES RETURN THREE STARTERS- Utah State welcomes back three starters and seven letterwinners from last year's team that went 22-10 overall and finished in fourth-place in the Big West Conference with a 10-6 league mark. Among those three starters returning for USU is senior setter Chelsi Neves who was a second-team all-Big West selection as a junior after finishing third in the league with 12.64 assists per game. Neves set a new single-season USU record with 1,441 assists which ranks sixth all-time at Utah State. USU's other two returning starters are senior middle blocker Michelle Matheson and senior defensive specialist Heather Olmstead.

MATHESON FOURTH IN BIG WEST IN BLOCK ASSISTS - Senior middle blocker Michelle Matheson enters the 2001 season with the fourth most blocks in the Big West Conference among active players with 225. She is also fifth all-time at USU with 212 block assists.

GAMES RESCHEDULED - Utah State was scheduled to open the 2001 Big West conference season on the road against UC Irvine and No. 2 Long Beach State Sept. 13-14, but those matches were postponed due to the tragic events on the east coast. Make-up dates have been set for Nov. 19-20. USU will face UC Irvine in Irvine, Calif., on Nov. 19 at 8 p.m., two days after playing the Anteaters in Logan. The Aggies then take on Long Beach State Nov. 20 at 8:30 p.m.

ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM - Erin Cartwright was has named to all-tournament teams two consecutive weeks. The sophomore from Hyrum, Utah was the only Aggie to be named to the Seventh Annual Aston Imua Wahine Volleyball Classic All-Tournament team (Sept. 6-8). She posted a career-high 25 kills versus Cincinnati over the weekend and averaged 3.36 kills per game to go along with 1.00 blocks per game. Cartwright was also named to the all-tournament team at the University Park Holiday Inn Classic in Fort Collins, Colo. to open the season.

FULLER OPENS CAREER WITH TWO STRAIGHT WINS- Utah State head coach Burt Fuller began his collegiate coaching career with two straight wins over Murray State and Arkansas to become the first coach in USU history to win the first two matches of a career.

VERSUS RANKED OPPONENTS - Utah State is currently 0-3 on the season versus ranked opponents after losing a four-game match at then No. 14 Colorado State in the championship game of the University Park Holiday Inn Classic. The Aggies also lost three-game matches to No. 10 Hawai'i and No. 6 USC at the Aston Imua Wahine Volleyball Classic in Honolulu, Hawai'i this past weekend. Last year, USU was 4-7 versus top-25 opponents.

NEVES MOVES INTO FIFTH-PLACE - Senior setter Chelsi Neves has moved into fifth-place on the USU career assists list with 1,737 assists in her career at USU. She is now 288 assists away from fourth-place which is currently held by Randi Winn who set the mark in 1992-93.

OLMSTEAD MOVES INTO SIXTH-PLACE - Senior defensive specialist Heather Olmstead has moved into sixth-place all-time at USU in digs after recording 31 last weekend. She now has 706 career digs and is just 57 away from moving into fifth-place all-time.

MATHESON MOVING UP CAREER CHARTS - Senior middle blocker Michelle Matheson continued her climb up the career block assists list at USU with 214 in her career, ranking fifth all-time at USU. She also entered the career top-10 this year for total blocks and is currently tied with Marie Motil at sixth all-time with 227. She's just six shy of claiming fifth place on that list, currently held by Tracie Gardner (1988-89).

CARTWRIGHT PROVIDES IMMEDIATE IMPACT - Sophomore middle blocker Erin Cartwright wasted little time in providing an impact for the Utah State volleyball team. In her first match at the Division I level, Cartwright just missed a double-double with nine kills and 10 digs versus Murray State. In her second match at the DI level against Arkansas, Cartwright had 20 kills to go along with four digs and five blocks, hitting .359. In her third match, she had a team-high 16 kills against Colorado State. And in her fifth match, she posted a career-high 25 kills against Cincinnati as she was named to her second-straight all-tournament team.

ON THE ROAD - Utah State opens the 2001 season with six straight matches on the road before playing its first home match on Saturday, Sept. 22 versus conference foe Idaho. Last year, USU played its first seven matches of the season on the road and had a 4-3 record before playing its first home match. The 1977 team holds the school record for most matches played on the road to begin the season at 20.

PRESEASON COACHES' POLL - Utah State is picked to finish in fifth-place in the Big West Conference according to the league's coaches. USU was also picked to finish fifth during the 2000 season and finished in fourth-place with a 10-6 league mark. The following is a list of the preseason poll.

1.  Long Beach State (9)	99
2.  Pacific			86
3.  UC Santa Barbara (1)	85
4.  Cal Poly			68
5.  UTAH STATE			49
6.  UC Irvine			45
7.  Cal State Northridge	38
8.  Idaho			36
9.  Cal State Fullerton		31
10.UC Riverside			13