Broncos Host Utah State, Then Travel to Air Force to Close Regular Season

WHAT IS HAPPENING THIS WEEK

Boise State (17-10, 9-7 MW) closes the regular season this week with a split schedule hosting Utah State (5-22, 3-13 MW) for Senior Night Tuesday, followed by a trip to Air Force (14-15, 4-11 MW) for a Thursday night encounter.
The Broncos open the final week of league play by hosting the Utah State Aggies at 7:30 p.m. (Mountain) in Bronco Gym ... Boise State won the first meeting 3-2 in Logan.
Boise State concludes the week Thursday night at 6:30 p.m. (Mountain) in Colorado Springs against the Air Force Falcons ... the Broncos defeated the Falcons 3-2 in Boise during the first contest of the season.
Once the regular season is over on Thursday the Broncos will wait over a week to see if they get a postseason bid into the National Invitational Volleyball Championship (NIVC) — the NIT of volleyball — the tournament bracket will be announced on Sunday (Nov. 25) following the release of the NCAA Championship bracket.
Both matches this week will have live video and live stats, for access go to the volleyball schedule page on BroncoSports.com for the links.

SENIOR NIGHT

Tuesday night will be Senior Night when the Broncos host Utah State at 7:30 p.m.
Boise State will recognize the team's two seniors Sabryn Roberts and Morgan Hughes in a short pre-match ceremony starting at 7:30 p.m. in Bronco Gym.

COMING ON STRONG

Boise State has come strong on late in the season as injured players have returned to the rotation resulting in the Broncos having won six of their last eight matches.

BRONCOS BY THE NUMBERS

Leaders: Sabryn Roberts leads Boise State with 3.72 kills per set (3rd MW) ... Jessica Donahue adds 2.09 kps and team-high 1.39 blocks per set (2nd MW / 20th NCAA) ... Morgan Hughes averages 2.18 kps and 1.18 bps (7th MW).
Team: As a team the Broncos are hitting 20.9 percent (5th MW) while holding opponents to 17.9 percent (3rd MW) ... they average 12.70 kills (8th MW), 11.95 assists (6th MW), 1.48 service aces (4th MW), 14.06 digs (8th MW) and 2.69 blocks per set (2nd MW / 17th NCAA).

KEY TRENDS FOR BRONCOS

The Broncos are 15-2 when winning the first set and have not dropped a match after taking the first two periods going 11-0.
Boise State is 17-3 when leading in blocks and 0-6 when trailing.
They are 15-2 when having a better attack percentage.
Boise State is 17-1 when holding opponents below 20 percent hitting and 0-9 when opponents hit 20 percent or better.

ROBERTS FOURTH IN CAREER KILLS

Senior outside hitter Sabryn Roberts is the 15th member of the 1,000 career kills club.
Roberts currently has 1,267 career kills to ranked fourth all time, 14 short of tying for third.
Roberts moved from ninth into seventh place for career kills at Boise State with 29 kills combined against San Diego State and Fresno State (Oct. 4-6), she started the year in 20th with 889.
She moved into sixth over the week of Oct. 11-13 with a combined 24 kills at CSU and Wyoming.
Roberts claimed fifth with 15 kills against Nevada on Oct. 25 giving her 1,210.
Fourth place came after she tallied 16 kills at San Diego State (Nov. 3).

DONAHUE, MASTER OF THE BLOCK

True freshman Jessica Donahue has made a huge impact for the Broncos at the net recording 118 blocks to date.
Donahue missed the first five MW matches before returning to action against Fresno State (Oct. 6) when she recorded a team-high seven blocks.
She is currently ninth in the MW for total blocks ... second in the MW and ranked 20th nationally in blocks per set at 1.39.
Donahue's 1.39 blocks per set average currently ranks fifth in program history for a season.
In her first collegiate match versus Long Beach State, Donahue set the Boise State freshman record for blocks in a match with 10.
Her 10 blocks against Long Beach State is ranked tied for seventh in program history.

MORGAN HUGHES SERVING UP ACES

Senior transfer Morgan Hughes has made an immediate impact on the team leading the team in service aces with 49 to rank second in the MW and 13th nationally.
She is third in the MW and 14th in the NCAA for service aces per set at 0.48.
Her 0.48 service aces per set this year ranks ninth in program history, while the 49 service aces in a season ranks tied for 11th.

HUGHES ON THE BLOCK

Hughes has also impacted the team's defense, she is leads the team and is tied for seventh in MW for blocks with 120.
She is second on team and seventh in MW for blocks per set at 1.18.

UTAH STATE MATCH PREVIEW

The Broncos close the home schedule Tuesday night at 7:30 p.m. when they host Utah State in Bronco Gym.
This will be the 44th meeting all-time with Boise State leading the series 25-18 ... the Broncos won the first meeting of the year in Logan by a 3-2 score.
LAST TIME: Boise State won a tightly contested battle and was forced into five sets before getting a key road win at Utah State 25-13, 23-25, 26-24, 20-25, 15-11. Outside of the first set which the Broncos dominated, the other four went back and forth between the two teams. The decisive fifth set saw Boise State jump out to a 10-4 lead only to see USU rally and close within one at 10-9. The Broncos regrouped and out scored the Aggies 5-2 down the stretch capped off by kills from Morgan Hughes and Sabryn Roberts, respectively, to clinch the victory. Boise State was helped by a balanced offensive attack against the Aggies as five Broncos tallied nine or more kills in the contest. Roberts led the way with her ninth double-double of the season on a team-high 17 kills and 13 digs.
The Aggies enter this week at 5-22 overall and 3-13 in league.
Utah State is coming off a pair of home defeats last week to Colorado State (3-0) and Wyoming (3-0).
USU is hitting 15.2 percent (11th MW) on the year and holding opponents to 24 percent (11th MW) ... Bailey Downing leads the Aggies averaging 2.56 kills per set, while Gabbi Shumway adds 2.54 kps.
The Aggies were picked eighth in this year's MW coaches preseason poll.

AIR FORCE MATCH PREVIEW

The Broncos will wrap up the week and regular season Thursday night at 6:30 p.m. in USAFA, Colo., against the Air Force Falcons.
This will be the 18th meeting all-time in the series which the Broncos leading 14-3 ... Boise State won the first meeting of the year 3-2 in Boise.
LAST TIME: Boise State won a tightly contest battle in five 25-21, 22-25, 25-22, 16-25, 15-13 over Air Force in Bronco Gym. A balanced offense led the Broncos as four combined for 47 kills led by Morgan Hughes with a team-high 13, followed by Sabryn Roberts' 12, while Kiley Lewis and Jessica Donahue each had 11. It was a back and forth contest as the Broncos took the first and third, only to see the Falcons rally each time taking the second and fourth sets to force the match into a decisive fifth. Down 9-6 in the fifth and coming out of a time out, Boise State rolled off a 4-0 run to go up 10-9 powered by two Lewis kills. The Falcons rallied taking leads at 12-11 and again at 13-12, before the Broncos put it away with a 3-0 run — one a Roberts kill and two AFA errors — to end it at 15-13.
Air Force enters the week at 14-15 overall and 4-11 in conference.
The Falcons are coming off road split winning at Nevada (3-2) before falling to San Jose State (3-0).
AFA is hitting 20.2 percent (6th MW) on the year and holding opponents to 18.5 percent (5th MW) ... Abigail Miksch leads Air Force averaging 3.22 kills per set, Elizabeth Pennington adds 3.13 kps.
Air Force was picked to place tied for eighth with Utah State in this year's coaches preseason poll.

Broncos Host Utah State, Then Travel to Air Force to Close Regular Season

WHAT IS HAPPENING THIS WEEK

SENIOR NIGHT

COMING ON STRONG

BRONCOS BY THE NUMBERS

KEY TRENDS FOR BRONCOS

ROBERTS FOURTH IN CAREER KILLS

DONAHUE, MASTER OF THE BLOCK

MORGAN HUGHES SERVING UP ACES

HUGHES ON THE BLOCK

UTAH STATE MATCH PREVIEW

AIR FORCE MATCH PREVIEW

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Jessica Donahue

Morgan Hughes

Kiley Lewis

Sabryn Roberts

Broncos Host Utah State, Then Travel to Air Force to Close Regular Season

WHAT IS HAPPENING THIS WEEK

SENIOR NIGHT

COMING ON STRONG

BRONCOS BY THE NUMBERS

KEY TRENDS FOR BRONCOS

ROBERTS FOURTH IN CAREER KILLS

DONAHUE, MASTER OF THE BLOCK

MORGAN HUGHES SERVING UP ACES

HUGHES ON THE BLOCK

UTAH STATE MATCH PREVIEW

AIR FORCE MATCH PREVIEW

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Jessica Donahue

Morgan Hughes

Kiley Lewis

Sabryn Roberts

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