No. 10 Cougars to host 2017 BYU Nike Invitational

PROVO, Utah – No. 10 BYU women’s volleyball officially begins the season this week hosting the 2017 BYU Nike Invitational Friday and Saturday.

The Cougars will compete against Saint Louis University Friday at noon MDT in the home opener. BYU will then face off against The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley Friday night at 7:30 p.m. before concluding the invitational Saturday at 7:30 p.m. against No. 21 The Ohio State University.

Saint Louis

• The Cougars lead the overall series with the Billikens 2-0, winning in three sets in the most recent meeting in 2015.
• Saint Louis competes in the Atlantic 10 Conference and finished third in the league standings last year, just behind Dayton and Rhode Island.
• The Billikens finished 18-14, 11-3 last season – ending the season with a five-set loss to Dayton in the A-10 championship match.

University of Texas Rio Grande Valley

• This will be the first meeting all-time between the Cougars and the Vaqueros.
• UTRGV plays in the Western Athletic Conference and finished in fifth place in the regular-season standings a year ago.
• The Vaqueros made WAC history last year becoming the first No. 5 seed to win the conference tournament championship.
• UTRGV finished the 2016 campaign with a 21-14, 7-7 record, falling to Texas in the first round of the NCAA tournament to end its season.

No. 21 The Ohio State

• BYU holds a perfect 8-0 record all-time against The Ohio State.
• The Cougars won the last meeting a year ago at The Ohio State, coming back to win the match in five sets after losing the first two.
• The Buckeyes finished the 2016 season tied for seventh place in the deep B1G league with a 22-13, 10-10 record.
• The Ohio State advanced to the regional semifinals of the NCAA tournament, falling to Wisconsin in five sets in its final match.

Admission is free for the home opener against Saint Louis. For the match against The Ohio State, there will be $1 hot dogs for sale. Additionally, when you present your Portland State football ticket at the Smith Fieldhouse ticket office, you can buy one volleyball ticket and get one for free for the match against the Buckeyes.

The three visiting teams will also compete against each other. On Friday, The Ohio State and UTRGV will square off at 10 a.m. MDT. Saint Louis and The Ohio State will play Friday at 5:30 and Saint Louis and UTRGV will compete Saturday at 11 a.m. Admission is free for those matches.

The BYU match against The Ohio State will be televised nationally on BYUtv and simulcast on BYU Radio – Sirius XM 143. All five other matches will be streamed live on TheW.tv. Live stats for each match will be available on the BYU women’s volleyball schedule page.