Cougars head to St. Louis for tournament

PROVO, Utah – No. 12 BYU women’s volleyball hits the road again this week for its second-consecutive tournament, the Marcia E. Hamilton Classic, hosted at Chaifetz Arena in St. Louis.

The Cougars (2-1) will first take on host Saint Louis on Friday, followed by No. 24 Purdue and Arkansas-Pine Bluff on Saturday.

Saint Louis

• BYU opens the tournament with the nightcap match against host Saint Louis Friday, Sept. 4, at 7 p.m. CDT.
• The Cougars won the only other matchup between the two schools 3-1 back in 2003.
• The Billikens are 1-2 on the young season, winning a four-set decision against Southeast Missouri State and falling to the University of Missouri-Kansas City and Arkansas State.
• To gain some perspective, Saint Louis finished the 2014 season 21-10, 9-5 (3rd) A10.
• The Billikens return all six starters and their libero from last season.

No. 24 Purdue

• BYU next plays B1G opponent Purdue Saturday, Sept. 5, at noon CDT.
• The Cougars are 3-1 all-time against the Boilermakers, having won the last decision 3-1 in 2001.
• Purdue is a perfect 3-0 to start the 2015 season, picking up wins last week against VCU, Austin Peay and Ohio.
• The Boilermakers went 22-10, 12-8 (5th) last year, just missing an NCAA tournament at-large bid.
• Purdue returns four starters and its libero to this season’s squad.

Arkansas-Pine Bluff

• To conclude play in the invitational, BYU plays Arkansas-Pine Bluff for the second neutral-site matchup of the day. The match begins Saturday, Sept. 5, at 4:30 CDT.
• The two squads have never played each other before in their history.
• The Golden Lions have gotten off to a rough start in 2015, holding an 0-3 record after losses last week to Mississippi State, Southern Utah and the University of Louisiana at Monroe.
• In 2014, Arkansas-Pine Bluff finished 12-21, 6-2 (2nd in West) SWAC.
• The Golden Lions lost four starters from last year, but return 10 letterwinners to this season.

VIDEO/STATS

Friday’s match will be streamed live online by Saint Louis, while Purdue will provide streaming audio for its match against BYU on Saturday. Live stats will be available for all three matches. Links to live stats and the video/audio feeds can be found on the BYU women’s volleyball schedule page.