OREM, Utah – After opening its 2015 season with a 1-2 outing at the Pepperdine Asics Classic over the weekend, the Utah Valley University volleyball team will continue its opening-season 11-match road swing at Idaho State on Tuesday evening.
 
First serve for the midweek contest is scheduled for 6 p.m. at ISU's Reed Gym and will feature live video and live stats by visiting ISUBengals.com.
 
After dropping their first two matches of the season to UC Santa Barbara and Pepperdine on Aug. 28, the Wolverines (1-2) responded by picking up a four-set win over Incarnate Word (26-24, 25-23, 19-25, 25-19) in their final contest of the Pepperdine Asics Classic on Aug. 29. Three Wolverines tallied double digits in kills in the match and sophomore Lexi Thompson topped the group by posting a career-high 13. Senior Lauren Bakker was next with 11 while true freshman Abby Jensen added a season-high 10.
 
The WAC Preseason Player of the Year Bakker also added a match-best six blocks in the win over UIW while freshman Sabrina Tanner finished in double figures in digs with 10. Sophomore Sierra Starley too played well for UVU as she finished a dig shy of a double-double with a team-high 28 assists and nine digs, while also adding three service aces.
 
Bakker was named to the Pepperdine Classic All-Tournament Team over the weekend after averaging 2.10 kills and 1.60 blocks per set while tallying a .241 attack percentage at the opening-season tournament.
 
ABOUT THE OPPOSITION
Tuesday will mark the 2015 home opener for Idaho State and the Bengals, who won the Big Sky title last season and were picked to win it again this year, will enter the contest with a 1-2 record after taking one out of three matches at their first tournament of the season last weekend. At the Utah Classic, ISU fell to both the No. 23 Utah Utes and Lipscomb in four sets before sweeping CSUN in the tournament finale on Saturday evening (26-24, 25-23, 25-20). Tressa Lyman and Makenzie Filer helped lead the Bengals to the victory over CSUN as they put up 16 and 15 kills, respectively.
 
The reigning Big Sky MVP Lyman and 2014 All-Big Sky selection Filer lead ISU offensively on the young season as they hold respective kills per set averages of 4.18 and 3.27. Filer also tops the team in blocks with a 1.18 per set clip while Lyman is third on the squad in digs (2.36). Hayley Farrer sets the tempo for the ISU offense as she will enter Tuesday averaging 10.82 assists per set while Kaitlyn Johnson anchors the back row with an average of 4.00 digs.
 
Tuesday's contest will mark the 13th all-time meeting between the Wolverines and Bengals. The two teams have split the previous 12 meetings (6-6) and have also gone an even 3-3 in Pocatello and 3-3 in Orem.
 
UP NEXT FOR UVU
Following Tuesday's midweek contest at ISU, the Wolverines will return to pre-season tournament play at the NDSU Baymont Inn & Suites Classic in Fargo, North Dakota this weekend. While in Fargo, UVU will face Milwaukee on Friday (Sept. 4), and the host North Dakota State Bison and Towson on Saturday (Sept. 5).