No. 16 BYU Heads to Jayhawk Invitational

PROVO -- The No. 16 BYU women's volleyball team will put its 6-0 record on the line this week at the Jayhawk Invitational hosted by the University of Kansas. The Cougars will take on the Jayhawks (6-1) Thursday at 7 p.m. CT before facing Arkansas (6-0) on Friday at 3 p.m. CT.

"Both Kansas and Arkansas are well coached and experienced teams," said BYU head coach Jason Watson. "They play in outstanding volleyball conferences so the challenge for our program will be great. I believe this will be another great weekend to learn more about our team prior to opening MWC play."

BYU enters the week coming off of a spectacular weekend at the BYU Molten Classic. The Cougars won the tournament title with three wins, including a four-game upset of then-No. 4 Stanford in front of a BYU women's volleyball record 4,050 fans on Friday night. The team completed the event on Saturday with sweeps of Texas A&M Corpus Christi and Virginia Commonwealth.

Junior rightside hitter Erica Lott earned tournament MVP honors for the second week in a row and Mountain West Conference Player of the Week accolades after averaging 4.60 kills and 2.00 blocks per game. Senior middle blocker Lindsy Hartsock and sophomore setter Amy Schlauder were also named to the All-Tournament Team.

Kansas is currently 6-1 in 2006 after winning the Temple Classic last weekend. The Jayhawks' only loss came Aug. 26 at Alabama. Kansas is led by outside hitters Jana Correa and Emily Brown, who average 3.67 and 3.58 kills per game, respectively. Middle blocker Savannah Noyes adds 3.33 kpg. The Jayhawks' top blocker is freshman Brittany Williams with 1.00 blocks per game while senior libero Jamie Mathewson paces Kansas with 3.92 digs per game. As a team, the Jayhawks are hitting .273 while holding opponents to a .154 hitting mark. BYU is 3-0 all-time against Kansas.

Arkansas enters the Jayhawk Invitational undefeated in 2006 at 6-0, winning tournament titles at the Oklahoma Invitational and the Arkansas Invitational. The Razorback offense is led by senior outside hitter Denitza Koleva, who averages 3.79 kills per game while hitting .278. Senior middle blocker Amy Allison records 1.38 blocks per game while freshman Destiny Clark adds 1.29 bpg. Junior libero Ashley Miller leads Arkansas with 4.54 digs per game. As a team, the Lady Razorbacks hit .241 while holding opponents to a .162 mark. BYU is 0-2 all-time against Arkansas.

Fans of BYU women's volleyball can catch all the action of the Jayhawk Classic in a variety of ways. In addition to live stats being available, BYU Radio will carry a live audio stream of the match over the Internet, both of which can be accessed by going to the Schedule page of the BYU women's volleyball homepage at http://www.byucougars.com/volleyball_w/. Live video will also be available for CSTV XXL subscribers via CSTV Online.