OREM, Utah --- The Utah Valley volleyball team opens in the 2022 slate on Aug. 26 at the Utah Classic in Salt Lake City. The Wolverines will meet No. 23 Kansas on Aug. 26 at noon, MDT before facing LMU later in the day at 5:00 p.m. MTD. Utah Valley will meet the host No. 22 Utah on Aug. 27 at 4:00 p.m.
UVU returns 14 players from last year's roster that finished 16-13 and 8-6 in WAC play. The Wolverines won the 2021 WAC Tournament after entering as the No. 7 seed that included upset wins over No. 2 seed New Mexico State, No. 6 Stephen F. Austin, and No. 5 seed Grand Canyon. UVU was eliminated in the first round of the NCAA Tournament by Utah in a game played at BYU.
Kazna Tanuvasa earned her third preseason All-WAC selection as she only needs six kills to break the career UVU kills record.
Tori Dorius earned her first selection after averaging 2.47 kills/set last year in limited action. Junior setter
Abbie Miller returns after averaging 5. 52 assists/set last year. Junior
Bryton Nixon will look to shine from the libero position for the Wolverines after averaging 4.01 digs/set a year ago.
BROADCAST INFO:
The Aug. 26 matches will be available on the Utah Utes live stream, and the Aug. 27 match against Utah will be aired on the Pac-12 Network.
ABOUT THE OPPONENTS:
UVU will see some new opponents to start the season. The Wolverines have not seen No. 23 Kansas since 2017 when the Jayhawks left Orem with a 3-0 sweep. Kansas was picked to finish fourth in the Big 12 Preseason Poll, with senior middle blocker Rachel Langs, being named first team.
LMU and UVU will play for the first time since 2010 and the third time on a neutral court. The Lions were tabbed fourth in the WCC by conference coaches. Two players were selected to the All-WCC Volleyball First Team setter Isabella Bareford and Outside hitter Kari Geissberger.
The Wolverines and Utes are familiar foes after meeting three times last year. Utes were picked to finish seventh in the Pac-12. Senior Outside hitter Madelyn Robinson led the Utes on the All-Pac-12 Preseason Team. UVU will look to avenge the loss to Utah in the first round of the NCAA Tournament in Provo. Utah has won ten straight against UVU, and the Wolverines are looking for their first win in Salt Lake City.
UVU's home opener is against Cal Poly on Aug. 29 at 6:00 p.m. Tickets can be purchased by clicking on the tickets heading above. UVU will honor the 2021 WAC Tournament Championship team with the ring ceremony after the match.
