Volleyball Enters Last Week of League Play

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PROVO, Utah—In the final week of regular season, the BYU women’s volleyball team welcomes Gonzaga and Portland to the Smith Fieldhouse to close out a successful run in its inaugural season as a member of the West Coast Conference.

"We are excited to host Gonzaga and Portland this week," BYU head coach Shawn Olmstead said. "Each and every opponent in this conference presents different schemes and systems and we'll plan accordingly starting with Gonzaga on Thursday."

The Cougars (20-8, 9-5) face Gonzaga (7-19, 1-14) Thursday at 7 p.m. and Portland (8-20, 2-13) Saturday at 1 p.m. for Senior Day. Two wins this week would secure the No. 3 position in the WCC for BYU, who was picked to finish sixth in the preseason poll.

Seniors Christie Carpenter, Casey Thurston and Camilla Phillips will be honored before the start of Saturday's match.

In the last matchups against the Bulldogs and Pilots, the Cougars pulled away with 3-1 victories.

Opposite hitter Jennifer Hamson leads BYU with 3.96 kills per set. She also contributes 2.45 digs and 1.03 blocks per set. Hamson is aided by middle blocker Nicole Warner, who averages 1.49 blocks, and libero Kendalyn Hartsock, who averages 4.21 digs.

Terran Poindexter heads Gonzaga’s offense with 2.36 kills per set and was one of three Bulldogs to reach double-figure kills in the Oct. 17 match. Poindexter had 13 kills on .632 hitting. Kristina Lavrisha posted 11 digs in the last match and averages 3.20.

Portland players to watch include Ariel Usher, averaging 2.69 kills, and Katie Mardesich, averaging 3.24 digs. Mardesich recorded 22 digs in the last matchup.

For links to live stats, video streaming and audio streaming, click HERE.

BYU vs. Gonzaga Notes