OREM, Utah – Utah Valley women's volleyball will head north to Pocatello this weekend for the Bengal Invitational. UVU will meet the host Idaho State on Sept. 7 at 6:00 p.m. MT and then play Gonzaga on Sept. 8 at 5:00 p.m. MT. All matches will be played inside Reed Gym.
 
"We are excited to get back on the court and compete again. We feel we have learned a lot from last weekend and plan to apply it this week. The girls have responded well this week at practice," said UVU head coach Sam Atoa.
 
Both matches will air on ESPN+ with live stats on UVUstats.com.
 
The Wolverines last weekend went 0-3 at the Kristen Dickmann Invitational at the United States Naval Academy. UVU was swept by Navy before falling in five sets to Old Dominion and four sets to Maryland. Avery Shewell finished with 40 kills on the weekend to lead the UVU attack and senior Abbie Medeiros chipped in with 57 assists. Kendra Nock had a good weekend at the net with 15 total blocks.
 
ABOUT IDAHO STATE
The Bengals enter this weekend at 1-5 on the season, with their lone win coming earlier this week against UC Davis. The Wolverines won the last meeting back in 2021 with 11 kills from Kalea Kennedy and Nock, adding seven kills and six blocks. ISU is currently second in the Big Sky with an average of 1.80 aces/set, with Sadie Bluth averaging 0.55 aces/set.
 
ABOUT GONZAGA
The Bulldogs are currently 2-4 on the season with victories over Purdue Fort Wayne and Idaho. Gonzaga features a balanced attack from Autumn Larson, Juliette Russell, and Zoe Thiros, all averaging over 2.41 kills a set. Utah native Nia Damuni averages almost nine assists a set and is dangerous behind the service line, with ten aces on the year. UVU holds a 1-0 advantage all-time with the lone victory coming in 2009 in Ogden.
 
UP NEXT
UVU will have three matches next week, starting with Weber State on Sept. 12 before hosting (RV) Utah State on Sept. 14 and No. 8 BYU on Sept. 15.