PROVO, Utah – BYU women’s volleyball head coach Heather Olmstead announced the 2017 schedule Monday.
The Cougars will face seven teams in their nonconference schedule that participated in the 2016 NCAA Tournament: Baylor, Boise State, Hawai’i, Missouri, Ohio State, Utah and UT Rio Grande Valley. Additionally, BYU will face off twice against conference foe San Diego who also made the 2016 tournament.
The Cougars will begin the season by hosting the BYU Invitational from Aug. 25-26. Four teams will compete in the tournament: Ohio State, UTRGV, Saint Louis and BYU. The Cougars beat the Buckeyes in a five-set thriller in Columbus last season but have never faced the Vaqueros. BYU beat the Billikens in the two teams’ last meeting in 2015.
The Cougars follow that invite up with another at Boise State from Aug. 31-Sept. 2. BYU will face off against Boise State, Missouri and Sacramento State. The Cougars are a perfect 7-0 against the Broncos, having won most recently in three sets last year. BYU also swept the Tigers last season but the overall series history is even at 2-2-1. The Cougars haven’t faced the Hornets since 2001 but are 3-0 against them all-time.
From Sept. 7-9, BYU will compete in its third and final nonconference tournament at Hawai’i. The Cougars first face host Hawai’i, followed by Nevada and Baylor. BYU last faced the Rainbow Wahine in the 2013 NCAA Tournament where the Cougars won in a sweep. Hawai’i holds a 17-6 advantage in the overall series, however. BYU leads 4-1 all-time against the Wolf Pack, but the two teams haven’t met since 2006. This will be the first-ever meeting with the Bears.
The next match takes place at Utah on Sept. 14. BYU had won five-straight matches against the Utes before Utah won in five last season in Provo. The Cougars lead the series 69-30.
Weber State then makes the journey to Provo on Sept. 15 for the teams’ first meeting since 2011. BYU is a perfect 60-0 against the Wildcats.
The final nonconference match takes place at Utah Valley on Sept. 16 – a team the Cougars haven’t lost to in all 14 meetings.
BYU will look to defend its West Coast Conference title when it begins league play the following week at Santa Clara and San Francisco on Sept. 21 and 23, respectively.
The Cougars then return home for a Tuesday match on Sept. 26 before hitting the road again later that week for a match against league rival San Diego on Sept. 30.
The following week sees BYU on the road against Saint Mary’s on Oct. 5 and Pacific on Oct. 7. Two home matches ensue with Portland coming to town on Oct. 12 followed by Gonzaga on Oct. 14.
The Cougars head to Pepperdine next on Oct. 19 followed by Loyola Marymount on Oct. 21. The only match of the following week takes place at home against San Diego on Oct. 27. That’s followed by two additional home matches against Pacific and Saint Mary’s on Nov. 2 and 4, respectively.
A road trip to the Pacific Northwest is next, as BYU faces Gonzaga on Nov. 9 and Portland on Nov. 11.
The final three regular-season matches take place at home with San Francisco coming to town on Nov. 16, followed by Santa Clara on Nov. 18 and Loyola Marymount on Nov. 21 for Senior Night.
For more information regarding individual matches, visit the 2017 women’s volleyball schedule page.