LOGAN – Before Saturday’s senior night matchup with Boise State – a game that would also have big NCAA Tournament implications – Utah State head coach Ryan Odom asked his team if they had any nervous feelings about the game ahead of them and if their hearts were beating faster because of it. The team nodded their heads. Odom gave a quick response. “That’s good. Because that means you care.” Odom acknowledged the nerves were a good thing but still worked to calm them. He told his team to take a deep breath. He told them, especially the five seniors on the team –Dan Akin, Sean Bairstow, Trevin Dorius, RJ Eytle-Rock and Taylor Funk – that they’ve “left the Aggies jersey in a better place than you found it.” He also told a story about a former player Odom coached that mentally set aside accolades to prioritize beating the team in front of him. Then it was game time. And whatever nerves the team admitted were there before the game evaporated as the Aggies came out on fire. They lit up the 10th-ranked defense in the country to the tune of 57 percent shooting in the first half and 47

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LOGAN, Utah – Utah State’s gymnastics team closed out its 2023 home schedule by placing second in a tri meet against Alaska and Nebraska in front of 1,545 fans on Friday night at the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum. The Aggies finished with a 194.600 to beat the Seawolves, who came in third with a final score of 191.750. Nebraska, competing in Logan for the first time since 1993, won the tri meet with a season-best 197.500. At the conclusion of the meet, Utah State honored its seven seniors in Carley Bayles (BB), Grace Rojas (VT/UB/BB), Lexi Aragon (UB/BB/FX), Maia Fishwick (AA), Jessica Gutierrez (UB/BB/FX), Sofi Sullivan (AA) and Ariel Toomey (AA), as well as team manager Daniel Barclay. “I was really emotional at the end there with the video playing on the board,” Sullivan said. “It’s crazy that I’ve been doing this my whole life and now it’s almost over, but I’ve had such great teammates and such a good experience here, that I’m going to be friends with these girls forever. They’re my sisters now. It was a good feeling, just bittersweet.” Sullivan certainly shined in her final home meet as an Aggie. The native of Manhattan Beach, California, tied