OREM, Utah - The Utah Valley University softball team will open its 2019 season this weekend at the Marucci Desert Classic in Las Vegas, Nevada. The tournament will run Friday to Sunday (Feb. 8-10) at UNLV's Eller Media Stadium. The Wolverines will face five different opponents that include UNLV, North Dakota, Seton Hall, in-state foe Southern Utah and Long Beach State.
 
UVU will begin Friday with a doubleheader starting at 4:30 p.m. MT against host UNLV Rebels followed by a late game under the lights at 9:30 p.m. MT versus North Dakota. Saturday will include another doubleheader with the Wolverines taking on Seton Hall at 9:00 a.m. MT and then Southern Utah at 2:00 p.m. MT. Utah Valley will cap the weekend with a final mid-morning contest on Sunday facing Long Beach State at 11:30 a.m. MT.
 
The Wolverines are coming off of their best season as members of the WAC by taking second in the league standings with a 10-4 conference record. The 2019 Utah Valley softball team looks to capitalize on their WAC Tournament appearance and second postseason appearance in program history this past season when UVU earned a berth to the National Invitational Softball Championship (NISC).
 
As the 2018 WAC Coach of the Year, TJ Hubbard begins his third year as the head of the UVU softball program. During his two seasons at Utah Valley, he has coached a total of seven all-conference honorees, nine academic all-conference selections, eight Easton/NFCA Scholar-Athletes, and a pair of NFCA all-region performers.
 
Hubbard and the Wolverines welcome back twelve returners from last year's roster and add 11 newcomers to the Utah Valley family. The 2018 first team All-WAC member and WAC Freshman of the Year, Peyton Angulo returns to the field as a sophomore infielder for UVU. She was recently tabbed to the 2019 Preseason All-WAC team alongside teammate Lyndsay Steverson. Angulo batted .338 in 2018 with 28 RBIs, 15 extra-base hits, a .508 slugging percentage, a team-high .452 on-base clip and led UVU with six sacrifice flies. Steverson was also tabbed as first team All-WAC for the 2018 season after hitting .322 with team-highs of 11 home runs, 44 RBIs, and a .608 slugging percentage.
UVU will also look to the strength of its senior starters this season in Brianna Moeller, Skylar Cook, Kaylee Bott, Madison Sisco and Abbie Tuttle.

Moeller leads the team going in to the 2019 season with a .346 average, 34 runs scored and 19 extra-base hits from a season ago. She also finished second on team total hits with 53 and tied for the team lead with 12 doubles. Moeller also added a .542 slugging percentage a season ago and is a 2018 second team All-WAC member.

Cook, who hit .278 a season ago, carries her speed and agility for UVU as the single-season stolen base leader after going a perfect 28-for-28 in steals last season. She also finished second on the team in runs scored with 30 in 2018 and capped her junior campaign by earning NISC All-Tournament Team honors.

Bott, who earned 2018 WAC All-Tournament Team honors, batted .302 a season ago with nine extra-base hits and 19 RBIs. The senior infielder added five doubles, three homers, and 13 runs scored to the 2018 season while compiling a .429 slugging percentage.

Sisco backed a .238 average with four doubles, seven home runs, 24 RBIs, 11 runs scored and a team-high 30 walks 2018. She also slugged .476 while adding a .420 on-base percentage.
 
Tuttle rounds out the senior starters in the outfield with 40 starts of 48 games played, registering 42 putouts, six assists and a perfect 1.000 fielding percentage last season. The 2018 campaign was a perfect season for Tuttle in stolen bases as she went 9-for-9 in that department.  

All five seniors were honored as Academic All-WAC members in the 2018 as well.

UVU's starting catcher Basia Query will return behind the plate for UVU. She also led the team with 54 hits, tied for the team lead of 12 doubles and posted second in RBIs with 32 total last season. She also tallied a .316 batting average and a .485 slugging clip.

Alongside the returners, the Wolverines and Coach Hubbard were excited to add 11 newcomers, including three transfers and eight freshmen. Transfers Kaycie Jensen (Jr., pitcher, Dixie State), Siena Sandoval (Jr., infielder, Illinois), and Devyn Cretz (Jr., pitcher, UTEP) join UVU, expanding the roster for pitching in both Jensen and Cretz and the infield from Sandoval.
 
Freshmen for the Wolverines include Berlyn Carreon (C/Los Alamitos, Calif./Los Alamitos HS), Abby Doughty (OF/Vail, Ariz./Cienega HS), Karleigh Olsen (INF/Corona, Calif./Santiago HS), Jordan Freas (INF/Midlothian, Texas/Midlothian Heritage HS), Payton Hammond (UTL/Grantsville, Utah/Tooele HS), Kyla Hardy (INF/Valencia, Calif./Valencia HS), Brylee Marziale (P/UTL/Tremonton, Utah/Box Elder HS) and Peyton Prigge (OF/Phoenix, Ariz./Horizon HS).

ABOUT THE OPPOSITION 
- UNLV went 13-11 in the Mountain West Conference and 33-20 overall. Competed 2-2 in the NISC postseason tournament. 
- North Dakota went 10-8 in the Summit League and 26-27 overall. Competed 1-1 in the Big Sky Conference tournament. 
- Seton Hall went 5-16 in the Big East Conference and 19-35 overall. 
- Southern Utah went 6-15 in the Big Sky Conference and 9-38 overall. 
- Long Beach State went 16-5 in the Big West Conference and 43-14 overall. Competed 1-2 in the Tempe Regional. 
 
UVU softball will return to Las Vegas/Henderson, Nevada, the following weekend of Feb. 15-17 for the Boyd Gaming Rebel Classic competition where they will see Miami (Ohio), UNLV, Georgetown and Fordham.
 
For more information, visit the UVU softball home page: https://gouvu.com/index.aspx?path=softball