PROVO — The No. 15 BYU women's volleyball team will open its 2007 home season this weekend hosting the BYU Molten Classic on Friday and Saturday in the Smith Fieldhouse.
No. 10 Wisconsin highlights the four-team field along with 2006 NCAA Tournament participants American and Northern Iowa.
"This is an important week for our program," said BYU head coach Jason Watson. "We get to open our home schedule with 3 nationally competitive programs. The challenge for our team will be to improve upon the lessons learnt last weekend."
The event will begin Friday at 4 p.m. with American taking on Northern Iowa before the featured match between the Badgers and Cougars at 7 p.m., which will be televised live on BYUTV.
Saturday's action begins at 10 a.m. with Wisconsin facing Northern Iowa and BYU playing American at 12 p.m. The evening block will see Wisconsin vs. American at 5 p.m. before BYU and Northern Iowa play in the 7 p.m. nightcap.
BYU went 12-1 in the Smith Fieldhouse last year and set a new program attendance record with an average of 1,902 fans, 13th in the nation. The Cougars are now 460-82 (.849) all-time at home and 22-1 on Elaine Michaelis Court over the last two years. With a 995-274-5 all-time record in the 39-year recorded history of BYU women's volleyball, the Cougars are just
five victories away from becoming the fourth program in volleyball history to post 1,000 wins.
Wisconsin is 3-0 so far in 2007 after claiming the InnTowner Invitational title last weekend with sweeps of UW-Milwaukee, Gardner-Webb and Syracuse.
American is off to an undefeated 3-0 record in 2007 after capturing the D.C. Volleyball Challenge Crown with sweeps of Georgetown and George Mason and a five-game come-from-behind victory over George Washington.
The Eagles' participation in the BYU Molten Classic marks the return of former BYU All-American setter Lauren Richards Evans to the Smith Fieldhouse. Evans finished her Cougar career in 2005 third all-time at BYU in career assist average (12.29) and total assists (4,056). She was hired as an assistant with the Eagles prior to the 2006 season.
Northern Iowa jumped out to a 2-1 start in 2007 after claiming the UNI Invitational crown last weekend. The Panthers swept Western Michigan and Wright State to open the year before falling at Kentucky in five games.
The Cougars began the 2007 season last weekend winning the Hawkeye Challenge with a sweep of Marquette (30-23, 30-27, 30-22) on Friday and a five-game victory over Iowa on Saturday. BYU had to fight hard to begin the year 2-0, though, as the Hawkeyes won the first two games (30-21, 30-21), forcing a spectacular Cougar comeback (30-19, 30-26, 15-13) to secure the win.
Three Cougars received All-Tournament honors for helping the Cougars claim the Hawkeye Challenge crown. Chelsea Goodman was named the tournament MVP while Rachel Dyer and Bryn Porter were named to the all-tournament team.
Earlier this month, BYU was selected as the favorite to win the 2007 Mountain West Conference regular-season title by a voting panel including the nine MWC head coaches and selected media. The Cougars collected eight first-place votes and 119 total points.
Colorado State tallied five first-place votes and 113 points to claim second place in the poll, while Utah topped UNLV for third place totaling 108 points. The Rebels collected one first-place vote on the way to 88 points and fourth place in the poll.
New Mexico (54 points) and San Diego State (51 points) claimed fifth and sixth place, respectively, followed by Wyoming (seventh, 50 points), TCU (eighth, 43 points) and Air Force (ninth, 14 points).
Goodman, a senior outside hitter, highlighted the preseason All-MWC team as she was tabbed the preseason MWC Player of the Year. Cougar rightside hitter Erica Lott was also named to the team. Five MWC squads were represented on the preseason All-MWC team, which also was chosen by the coaches and selected media.
"I think this is exciting for our team," said Goodman. "Winning the conference is definitely an expectation we have for ourselves. Being the preseason Player of the Year is an exciting accomplishment, but there's still a long season to play. We're all just excited for the season to begin."
2007 BYU Molten Classic
Friday — American vs. Northern Iowa, 4 p.m.; BYU vs. Wisconsin, 7 p.m.
Saturday — Northern Iowa vs. Wisconsin, 10 a.m.; BYU vs. American, noon; Wisconsin vs. American, 5 p.m.; BYU vs. Northern Iowa, 7 p.m.
All matches at the Smith Fieldhouse
2007 BYU schedule
Aug. 24-25 at Iowa Hawkeye Challenges
Aug. 24 — def. Marquette 3-0
Aug. 25 — def. Iowa, 3-2
Aug. 31-Sept. 1 at BYU Molten Classic
Aug. 31 — Wisconsin, 7 p.m.
Sept. 1 — American, noon
Sept. 1 — Northern Iowa, 7 p.m.
Sept. 6-8 at Stanford Invitational
Sept. 6 — Cal Poly, 6 p.m.
Sept. 7 — St. Mary's, 6 p.m.
Sept. 8 — Stanford, 8 p.m.
Sept. 13 — at UNLV, 8 p.m.
Sept. 15 — at San Diego State, 8 p.m.
Sept. 18 — at Weber State, 7 p.m.
Sept. 22 — Colorado State, 7 p.m.
Sept. 28 — at Wyoming, 7 p.m.
Sept. 29 — at Air Force, 7 p.m.
Oct. 5 — TCU, 7 p.m.
Oct. 6 — New Mexico, 7 p.m.
Oct. 9 — Utah Valley, 7 p.m.
Oct. 12 — at Utah, 7 p.m.
Oct. 18 — at Colorado State, 7 p.m.
Oct. 26 — vs. Air Force, 7 p.m.
Oct. 27 — vs. Wyoming, 7 p.m.
Nov. 1 — at TCU, 6 p.m.
Nov. 2 — at New Mexico, 7 p.m.
Nov. 9 — Utah, 7 p.m.
Nov. 16 — San Diego State, 7 p.m.
Nov. 17 — UNLV, 7 p.m.
Nov. 21-24 at MWC Tournament
All times Mountain