Women's volleyball releases 2014 schedule

PROVO, Utah – BYU women’s volleyball head coach Shawn Olmstead released the 2014 schedule, which includes matchups with six 2013 NCAA tournament teams, Wednesday.

“This time of year is always an exciting and energetic time of year,” Olmstead said. “We have put together an outstanding schedule both home and away that will help us prepare for the strong competition found in the West Coast Conference. Cougar fans should be excited about the teams that will be visiting the Smith Fieldhouse both non-conference and in league play. We’re excited to have 12 of our 13 home matches televised nationally on BYUtv. They are a great partnership for BYU Athletics. All in all, we can’t wait to get in the gym and get rolling.”

BYU begins the season in West Virginia by taking part in the Gold & Blue Player’s Challenge. Play for the Cougars commences with a match against host West Virginia on Aug. 29. Two matches against IUPUI and Toledo follow the next day.

Women’s volleyball looks to extend its 26-match home win streak when it takes on Washington on Sept. 5 to begin the BYU Invitational. Last season, Washington advanced to the Final Four of the NCAA tournament. The Cougars will finish out the invitational the following day with matches against UMBC and Utah Valley.

BYU will follow up its invitational on the road for three more matches against Colorado State, UTEP and New Mexico State. Colorado State and New Mexico State each participated in the 2013 NCAA tournament.

The 2014 Deseret First Duel will then take place – this year in the Smith Fieldhouse on Sept. 19 – as the last non-conference matchup. The Cougars have won the past three matches against the Utes.

BYU begins conference play at home against Gonzaga and Portland on Sept. 25 and 27, respectively, before hitting the road for a single Tuesday match against Pepperdine. The Cougars will then compete in two additional matches that week at home before hitting the road for three away matches in two weeks.

The Cougars return to the Smith Fieldhouse for matches against Loyola Marymount and Pepperdine on Oct. 23 and 25 before traveling to Santa Clara and San Francisco the following week. The regular season home finale against San Diego on Nov. 14 will take place following another pair of home matches against Saint Mary’s and Pacific.

BYU will finish the regular season with three road matches, including the regular season finale at Loyola Marymount on Nov. 25.

BYUtv will broadcast 12 of the Cougars’ home matches. Other select matches will be broadcast on ESPNU and TheW.tv.

For a complete list of match times and dates, visit the 2014 women’s volleyball schedule page.