Undefeated Utah State Comes to Provo

PROVO -- With the seventh-straight match at home, the BYU women’s volleyball team (3-6) will host Utah State (9-0) Tuesday at 7 p.m. in the Smith Fieldhouse.

“It is always a great match with Utah State and we are happy to have them on our floor this year,” BYU head coach Shay Goulding said. “They are off to a particularly great start so it is definitely going to be a fantastic match and we have to be playing our absolute best to beat them.”

BYU leads the Cougar-Aggie series at 49-14, falling to the Aggies last season at Logan (2-3). Utah State has defeated volleyball powerhouses Utah, Seattle and Arizona State thus far, and is receiving votes in the AVCA national poll.

The last time out, true freshman Jennifer Hamson and senior transfer Stephanie Snow were named to the BYU Molten Classic’s All-Tournament team.

In a preview of future West Coast Conference matchups, BYU defeated Loyola Marymount in a five-set thriller (17-25, 28-26, 22-25, 25-22, 15-7) last Friday to open play at the BYU Molten Classic. In her first start as a Cougar, Hamson, led BYU with 14 kills, 16 digs, two service aces and three digs in the first double-double performance of her career.

In the Cougars’ second game of the Molten Classic, they were unable to come out with a win during a five set nail-biter against the Houston Cougars in red Saturday morning (25-19, 16-25, 17-25, 25-19, 13-15). Despite the loss, Hamson recorded a game-high, and career-high 15 kills for BYU.

In the final match, BYU took on the only undefeated team in the tournament, Wichita State, and was defeated in four sets (19-25, 25-22, 21-25, 21-25).

After Tuesday’s game, the Cougars will travel to Hawaii for a two-match series on Friday and Saturday at 7 p.m. HT.