WSU COUGAR CHALLENGE
Utah Valley vs. Ball State	Utah Valley vs. Morehead State
Friday, Sept. 11, 2015   |   10 a.m. PT	Friday, Sept. 11, 2015   |   5:00 p.m. PT
StatBroadcast   |   UVU Match Notes	StatBroadcast
Utah Valley at Washington State
Saturday, Sept. 12, 2015   |   7 p.m. PT
Live Video   |   StatBroadcast

 

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OREM, Utah – The Utah Valley University volleyball team will continue its season-opening 11-match road stretch this weekend at the WSU Cougar Challenge in Pullman, Washington. The Wolverines will face Ball State, Morehead State and the host Washington State Cougars at the tournament.
 
UVU (2-5) will take on both Ball State (11 a.m. MT/10 a.m. PT) and Morehead State (6 p.m. MT/5 p.m. PT) on Friday before closing the weekend tournament against Washington State on Saturday at 8 p.m. MT/7 p.m. PT. Live stats will be available for all three matches via WSUCougars.com, while live video will only be streamed on for Saturday's contest versus the Cougars on Pac-12.com.
 
"We are not where we'd like to be in the win column right now, so we're looking forward to getting back on the court this weekend," head coach Sam Atoa said. "We're continually working hard and trying to get better. This once again will be a tough tournament for us, but we're hoping to be a little bit better than we were last week."
 
The Wolverines will enter the Cougar Challenge off of a 1-3 outing in four matches last week. After dropping a three-set contest at Idaho State on Sept. 1, UVU bounced back by sweeping Milwaukee in the NDSU Baymont Inn & Suites Classic opener on Sept. 4 (25-23, 25-20, 25-21). Junior Macky Fifita led the Wolverines in the contest with a match-high 14 kills while freshman Abby Jensen too topped double digits in kills with 10. Following the Milwaukee match, UVU fell in straight sets to the host North Dakota State Bison, however, before closing the NDSU Classic with a tightly contested five-set setback to Towson.
 
Despite falling to Towson in the NDSU Classic finale, three Wolverines notched double-doubles in the contest. Jensen led the way with a season-high 17 kills and 10 digs, while Fifita put up 15 kills and 11 digs and sophomore Sierra Starley tallied a career-high 51 assists as well as 10 digs. Fifita was named to the NDSU Classic All-Tournament Team following the conclusion of the tournament, after putting up 38 kills, a 3.45 kills per set average, a .286 attack percentage and 28 digs in the three matches.
 
Senior Lauren Bakker, who was tabbed the preseason conference player of the year this season, leads the Wolverines with 61 kills and a 1.38 blocks per set average, while Fifita tops the team with a 2.95 kills per set clip.
 
ABOUT THE OPPOSITION
Ball State will enter the tournament with a 4-3 record after going 1-2 at the Lipscomb Invitational last week with a victory over Florida Atlantic. BSU also holds wins over Albany, Belmont and New Mexico on the year. The Cardinals were picked to finish third in the MAC's Western Division this season after going 17-13 overall a year ago and 11-5 in league play in 2014.
 
Alex Fuelling paces the Cardinals in kills with a 3.79 per set average and is second on the team in digs with an average of 2.96 per set. Friday morning's contest will be the first all-time meeting between the UVU and BSU.
 
Morehead State will enter the tournament with a 2-5 record after going 1-3 at the Crosstown Challenge in Easton, Pennsylvania last weekend. MSU holds wins over Canisius and Fairleigh Dickinson on the season and was picked to finish seventh in the Ohio Valley Conference in 2015 after going just 3-28 a year ago and 3-13 in OVC play.
 
Merideth Jewell leads the Eagles offensively this season with a 4.62 kills per set average. Friday evening's matchup with MSU will also be the first all-time meeting in program history between the Wolverines and Eagles.
 
The host WSU Cougars will enter the weekend riding a five-match winning streak after winning all three contests at the Idaho Volleyball Classic in nearby Moscow, Idaho last week and taking its final two contests the Radford Highlander Invite two weeks ago. Washington State's lone loss came in its season opener to Radford and it holds its wins -- all via sweeps -- over Elon, East Tennessee State, UC Irvine, Idaho and Seattle U. The Cougars were picked to finish 12th in the Pac-12 Preseason Poll after going 10-22 overall last season and 1-19 in conference play.
 
Kyra Holt tops WSU offensively as she averages a Pac-12 best 5.11 kills per set average. Saturday evening's tournament finale between the Wolverines and Cougars will be the fourth all-time meeting between the two programs. WSU will enter the contest having taken two out of the three previous meetings. UVU's lone victory over the Pac-12 foe came during its first season of NCAA Division I competition (Sept. 6, 2003), as it outlasted the Cougars in five sets in a tournament hosted by the University of Utah. 
 
UP NEXT FOR UVU
The Wolverines will return to the Beehive State for its final contest of their season-opening 11-match road stretch at Utah State on Tuesday, Sept. 15. UVU will then come home for its 2015 home opener against last year's national runner-up and ninth-ranked BYU Cougars on Saturday, Sept. 19 at 7 p.m.