On The Road Again For BYU Volleyball

PROVO -- The No. 23 BYU women’s volleyball team (5-1) will hit the road again this weekend for three matches at the InnTowner Invitational hosted by the University of Wisconsin.

The Cougars will begin play on Friday at 12 p.m. CT (11 a.m. MT) against Boise State. BYU will then play two matches on Saturday – one at 10 a.m. CT (9 a.m. MT) against Central Michigan and then the tournament finale at 7 p.m. CT (6 p.m. MT) against the No. 14 Badgers.

“We learned a lot last week,” said BYU head coach Shay Goulding. “It is important that we use this next weekend to really figure out how to control what happens on our side of the net. I believe that when we can maintain our systems we are difficult to stop. We will continue to see some great competition this weekend, and it will prepare us well to begin conference play next week.”

BYU went 2-1 last weekend to finish second at the Texas A&M Invitational with wins over Siena and American and a loss to the host Aggies. BYU senior middle blocker Rachel Dyer and junior outside hitter Kayla Walker were named to the All-Tournament Team after outstanding performances. Sophomore setter Kiana Rogers ran her double-double streak to five straight matches after tallying three on the weekend while senior outside hitter Bryn Porter posted two to bring her season total to three.

Including three matches last weekend, three matches this weekend and the start of Mountain West Conference play at Wyoming on Sept. 18 and at Colorado State on Sept. 20, the Cougars are currently in the middle of an eight-match road stretch. All in all, BYU will play 10 of its first 14 matches of the 2008 season away from the Smith Fieldhouse.

The Boise State Broncos are still searching for their first victory of the season after falling to 0-6 on the year with three losses at the Northwest Challenge, including a three-set defeat at No. 9 Washington. Sophomore outside hitter Alisha King currently leads the way with 2.52 kills per set while adding 2.05 digs per set, third on the team.

The Central Michigan Chippewas are 5-1 on the year after earning the Country Inn and Suites Challenge title with wins over South Alabama, Alabama A&M and host Chattanooga. Senior middle blocker Whitney Evers is tied for the team lead with 3.55 kills per set on a team-best .465 hitting percentage, helping CMU hit .273 overall in a very balanced offensive set.

The Wisconsin Badgers are ranked No. 14 this week after going 2-1 over the weekend to move to 5-1 on the year. After four straight victories to open the season, including a five-set win at UNLV, the Badgers dropped their first match of the year vs. Miami before rebounding with a sweep of CS Fullerton. Junior rightside hitter Katherine Dykstra paces the Badgers with 3.43 kills per set on a team-best .348 hitting percentage.

All three matches of the InnTowner Invitational will be available via live stats and live video online. The Wisconsin match will also have a Wisconsin radio broadcast available over the Internet. Links to all of these options can be found by going to the schedule page of the BYU women’s volleyball homepage at http://www.byucougars.com/volleyball_w/.

Fans can join the official BYU Women’s Volleyball Texting Group by texting “WVB” to 83043. Members of the group will get updates about game times and special promotions.