Oct. 1, 2007

LOGAN, Utah - Utah State volleyball player Melissa Osterloh has been named the Western Athletic Conference Player of the Week it was announced by the league office on Monday. Osterloh was also named the America First Credit Union Utah State Student-Athlete of the Week, which is voted on by a state media panel, for the period ending on Sunday, Sept. 30.

Osterloh becomes the third Aggie volleyball player to earn weekly WAC accolades since Utah State joined the league prior to the 2005 season, joining Zuzana Cernianska who won the award in 2005 and Hailey Jeppson who was honored in 2006.

Osterloh, a 5-10 junior outside hitter from Sandy, Utah (Skyline HS/Portland State) led Utah State to a 2-0 road record last weekend with a pair of WAC wins at San Jose State (3-0) and Fresno State (3-1). Against SJSU, Osterloh recorded her team-leading fifth double-double of the year with 10 kills and 10 digs to go along with four blocks and two service aces, while hitting a season-high .429 (10-1-21). She followed that performance up with another double-double against FSU, as she had 18 kills and a season-high 16 digs to go along with two blocks and two service aces, while hitting .300 (18-3-50).

For the weekend, Osterloh hit .338 (28-4-71) and averaged 5.00 points, 4.00 kills, 3.71 digs, 0.86 blocks, 0.57 service aces and 0.29 assists per game.

Utah State is 8-7 on the year and tied for second-place in the WAC a 5-1 league record and has won six of its last seven matches after starting the season with a 2-6 record. The Aggies return to action on Thursday, Oct. 4 when they host 22nd-ranked New Mexico State (13-3, 5-1) at 7 p.m. in the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum.

Nominees from other sports included:
FOOTBALL - Junior linebacker De'von Hall (Reseda, Calif.) tied a game-high as well as a career-high for the third time with 11 tackles in Utah State's 34-18 loss at Utah. Hall has now had 11 tackles in three of the five games on the season and leads the team with 44 stops on the year.

WOMEN'S CROSS COUNTRY - Senior Stacie (Lifferth) Dorius (Layton, Utah) led Utah State's women's cross country team to a 14th-place finish at the Bill Dellinger Invitational hosted by the University of Oregon last weekend. Dorius finished the 6,000-meter race in 55th-place with a time of 21:33.

MEN'S CROSS COUNTRY - Junior Seth Wold (Highland, Utah) led Utah State's men's cross country team to a 13th-place finish at the Bill Dellinger Invitational hosted by the University of Oregon last weekend. Wold placed 31st in the 8,000-meter race with a time of 24:03.

MEN'S GOLF - Junior Devin Daniels (Smithfield, Utah) shot a five-under par 139 to finish tied for third-place at the 2007 Purple & Red Invitational in Layton, Utah last week as he led Utah State to a 14th-place team finish. Daniels shot a one-under 71 during the first day of competition and followed that up with a four-under 68 to record his best finish of the season.

SOCCER - Junior defender Alyssa Lowry (Draper, Utah) recorded her first career points and first career goal in the second-half of Utah State's 1-0 home win against Montana last week.

2007-08 Utah State Athlete of the Week Winners
Sept. 4 - Dana Peart, Soccer
Sept. 10 - Amanda Nielson, Volleyball
Sept. 17 - Dana Peart, Soccer
Sept. 24 - Kevin Robinson, Football
Oct. 1 - Melissa Osterloh, Volleyball