OREM, Utah – Utah Valley women's volleyball officially starts the 2025 season this weekend when it hosts the Utah Valley Invitational inside the UCCU Center. The Wolverines will play Friday, Aug. 29, at 12:30 p.m. MT against Montana before hosting the United States Naval Academy later that evening at 7 p.m. MT. The tournament will wrap up Saturday, Aug. 30, with a matchup against Boise State at 3 p.m. MT.

BROADCAST INFO
All matches from the Utah Valley Invitational will be streamed, with UVU's three matches airing on ESPN+ with Matt Baiamonte and Kayli Doxey on the call. All non-UVU matches will be shown on GoUVU's YouTube page. UVUstats.com will have live stats for all matches.

LAST TIME OUT
The Wolverines finished 2024 with a 21-11 record and made their second appearance in the National Invitational Volleyball Championship (NIVC), where they finished 1-1. Utah Valley is led by three-time All-WAC honoree Avery Page, who took home first-team honors last season with 431 kills and fell just one shy of tying UVU's single-season record for service aces with 54.

Sami Blackett capped off a strong freshman season with three WAC honors, including All-WAC first team and WAC Co-Freshman of the Year. She led Utah Valley with 467 kills and 549.5 points.

Senior Bella Wooden returns after leading the nation in both total blocks and blocks per set last season. In her first year in Orem, she broke Madison Dennison's 2017 single-season total blocks record with 196.
WAC Preseason Setter of the Year Evalyn Chism finished with the third-most assists in a single season last year with 1,213, which earned her second-team All-WAC honors. She will look to help lead the Wolverines' offensive attack this season while trying to add to her five WAC Setter of the Week honors from last year.
 
ABOUT THE GRIZZLIES
The Grizzlies finished 2024 with a 10-17 record and a 5-11 mark in the Big Sky Conference. They were picked ninth in the Big Sky and will look for their youth to step up in 2025. UM returns senior outside hitter Maddie Pyles, who tallied 197 kills and averaged just over 2.07 kills per set last season. She also recorded 72 total blocks for a team that averaged 2.20 blocks per set. Returning libero Alexis Batezel tallied 371 digs last season, averaging 4.08 per set.

ABOUT THE MIDSHIPMEN
Navy finished 2024 with a 7-18 record and went 7-9 in the Patriot League. The Midshipmen were picked to finish seventh in the nine-team league. They return second-team All-Patriot League selection Farrah Eike, who recorded a team-high 168 kills in 2024, while Ava Toppin added 134 kills and 72 blocks in the middle. Returning setter Arleigh Hanson led the team in assists and ranked second to Hannah Hoover in digs.

ABOUT THE BRONCOS
The Broncos finished 19-10 in 2024 with a sixth-place finish in the Mountain West after a 10-8 campaign. They were picked to finish fifth in the Mountain West in 2025. Boise State returns setter Lilli Etter, who was second on the team with 486 assists last season, but lost much of its production from last year's squad. A former All-WAC honoree, Ari Bilby transferred from Seattle U after earning second-team All-WAC honors last season with the Redhawks.

PICKED TO WIN THE WAC
Utah Valley was picked to win the Western Athletic Conference by the league's head coaches last week. The Wolverines earned five of the seven total votes, with UT Arlington and Utah Tech receiving the others. It's the first time they have been picked to win the league since the 2021 season, when the WAC split into divisions.

UP NEXT
Utah Valley will travel to Honolulu for the Outrigger Invitational hosted by the University of Hawai'i. The Wolverines will see tough competition in their three matches, including a pair of postseason teams in St. John's and (RV) Hawaii.