Broncos Fall in MW Championship Semifinal in Five Sets

Friday, November 28

Las Vegas, Nev.

1 p.m. PT/2 p.m. MT

Boise State

20-11,11-7Mountain West

Utah State

22-7,18-0Mountain West

Boise St.

Utah St.

Broncos Fall in MW Championship Semifinal in Five Sets

11/28/2025 5:12:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

Box Score

Boise State won the first two sets

LAS VEGAS – Boise State took the first two sets, but top-seeded Utah State rallied to end the Broncos' season as Boise State lost in five sets (25-27, 22-25, 25-20, 29-27, 15-9) in a Mountain West Volleyball Championship semifinal on Friday at the Pavilion.

In a match that featured 35 ties and 16 lead changes, the Broncos (20-11, 11-7 MW) hit .300 and out-blocked the Aggies, 10-7, to put up a fight, but the Utah State offense (21-7, 18-0 MW) closed out the match hitting .395 or higher in the final three sets to advance to Saturday's Mountain West Championship final.

Five different Broncos had double-digit kills, led by senior outside hitter Arianna Bilby with 18 on a team-high 46 attacks. Senior outside hitter Kailyn Jager and junior middle blocker Layla Smith followed up Bilby with 12 kills each while freshman outside hitter Sydney Dreves (11) and senior outside hitter Jazi Smith (10) rounded out the quintet in double-figures.

Of the five in double-figures for kills, J. Smith (.500), Bilby (.348), L. Smith (.346) and Jager (.303) all hit over .300.

Utah State out-dug Boise State, 70-55. Jager had a team-high 14 digs for Boise State.

The Aggies led by as much as four at 14-10 in the first and had set point at 24-23, but the Broncos fought off two points in the opening set to win 27-25. With the score at 25-25, a kill from J. Smith followed by an ace from Sharp gave the Broncos an early lead in the match.

The Broncos turned in a .379 hitting percentage in the second set to win it, 25-22. Utah State brought it within one at 19-18, but a Utah State attack error preceded a Bronco block by Bilby and Sharp that made it 21-18. Utah State attempted to slow the momentum with a timeout, but the Broncos closed out the set with a kill by Bilby at 24-21 and a Utah State service error to end the set.

The Aggies responded to win the third set behind a .395 hitting percentage. Bilby had seven of the 14 Boise State kills in the set as the senior hit .500.

Boise State was unable to slow down Utah State in the fourth as the Aggie offense registered a .432 hitting percentage to Boise State's .318. The Broncos forced extra points for the second time in the match as they had to come back from a 23-20 disadvantage. Kills from Bilby and J. Smith made it 23-22 Utah State. The Aggies brought it to set point, though, at 24-22. The Broncos responded and went on to fight off five set points before dropping the set.

In the fifth, Utah State hit .643 to put away the match.

Top Broncos

Arianna Bilby recorded 18 kills on a .348 attack percentage. She also had four digs, two blocks and an ace.
Elle Cotton registered 31 assists, seven digs and two aces.
Kailyn Jager had 12 kills, 14 digs, three blocks and two aces.
Bre Mitchell was the lone Bronco in double-digits for digs with 14.

Notables

Boise State took Utah State to five sets in two of the three matches played against one another this season.

What's Next
The Broncos ended the year with a 20-win campaign for the second time in the last five seasons and their most wins in conference play since 2016.