PROVO — No. 9 BYU women's volleyball will begin the 2019 season by hosting Boise State, No. 16 Marquette and Utah Valley in the BYU Nike Invitational starting Friday, Aug. 30.
The Cougars will first face Boise State at noon MT on Friday in Provo at the Smith Fieldhouse before playing their second match of the day against Utah Valley at 7:30 p.m. MT. BYU will then play Marquette on Saturday, Aug. 31, at 7 p.m. MT. All three games will be televised live on BYUtv.
BYU is a combined 25-0 against its three upcoming visitors, including 8-0 versus Boise State, 14-0 versus Utah Valley and 3-0 versus Marquette.
The Broncos placed fifth last year in the Mountain West Conference, going 18-11 overall.
Blending the old and the new, this year's BYU team returns a core of four All-Americans, including middles Kennedy Eschenberg and Heather Gneiting, outside hitter McKenna Miller and libero Mary Lake. They are joined by six returners and eight newcomers, including seven true freshmen.
Ranked ninth in the country and picked to finish first in the West Coast Conference, the Cougars are looking to win a sixth-straight WCC title and make another run in the NCAA Tournament a year removed from an NCAA Semifinal appearance.
Heather Olmstead returns for her fifth season as head coach at BYU after winning AVCA National Coach of the Year honors in 2018.