Volleyball Opens Season Against Two Top-16 Teams on Friday

Friday, August 30

Provo, Utah

Noon (MT)

Boise State

BYU

Photo by: Patrick Sweeney

Volleyball Opens Season Against Two Top-16 Teams on Friday

8/28/2019 6:04:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

Broncos head to BYU Nike Invitational to face No. 9 BYU and No. 16 Marquette on Friday, followed by Utah Valley on Saturday.

By: Courtesy: Boise State Athletics

BYU NIKE INVITATIONAL

Provo, Utah | Smith Fieldhouse
August 30-31 (Friday-Saturday)

TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE

Match 1: Boise State at No. 9 BYU | Aug. 30 | Noon (Mountain) | Live Stats | BYUtv
Match 2: Boise State vs. No. 16 Marquette | Aug. 30 | 5:30 p.m. (Mountain) | Live Stats | WCC Network
Match 3: Boise State vs. Utah Valley | Aug. 31 | Noon (Mountain) | Live Stats | WCC Network
Boise State Notes | Season Stats | Roster | Twitter | Facebook

WHAT'S HAPPENING THIS WEEK

● It is a big opening weekend for the Boise State volleyball team as it heads to Provo, Utah, for the BYU Nike Invitational this Friday and Saturday.
● The Broncos open the season Friday against two top-16 ranked teams in No. 9 BYU at noon (Mountain) and No. 16 Marquette at 5:30 p.m. (Mountain).
● Boise State concludes the week Saturday versus Utah Valley at noon.
● All three teams advanced to postseason play last year with BYU making it to the NCAA national semifinals, while Marquette reached the round of 16. Utah Valley advanced to the National Invitational Volleyball Championship round of 16.
● Boise State is one of 12 schools this weekend who are opening the season playing back-to-back matches against teams ranked in the RPI top-25 at the end of 2018, BYU and Marquette.
● Boise State and Utah Valley are the only two schools opening the season with two matches against current AVCA Top-25 teams on the same day.
● All matches this weekend will be played at the Smith Fieldhouse on BYU's campus.
● The BYU match will be broadcast live on BYUtv, the other two will be on the WCC Network.

THINGS TO WATCH FOR THIS WEEK

SIMON LOOKING FOR 1,000TH ASSIST
● Senior setter Cassedi Simon is looking for 13 assists to reach 1,000 in her career.
● When Simon does, she will be the 17th Bronco to reach the milestone in program history.
● She enters the year ranked 17th all-time in career assists.

BRONCOS IN SEASON OPENERS
● Record: Boise State is now 21-19 in season openers since the 1979 campaign.
● Current Streak: The Broncos have won four-straight season openers.
● At Home: 9-5 all-time when opening at home.
● On Road: 12-14 all-time when opening on the road (away and neutral).
● Last Victory: Boise State opened the 2018 campaign with a 3-2 victory over Long Beach State at the Summer Spike Invitational at Portland State.
● Garus Era: The Broncos are 4-6 in openers under head coach Shawn Garus.

OTHER NOTES

HEAD COACH SHAWN GARUS
● Coach Garus enters his 11th season at Boise State and 19th overall just 14 wins shy of 300 career wins at 286.
● Garus is 286-251 overall entering his 19th year as a collegiate head coach.
● He is currently 178-132 at Boise State in his 10th season.
● Garus is a two-time MW Coach of the Year (2015, 2016), as well as the 2016 AVCA Region Coach of the Year.
● Garus ranks second in total wins in program history, out of 10 coaches all-time.
● He has recorded eight winning seasons overall, including an active streak of five straight.
● His Boise State teams have recorded three seasons (2010, 2015, 2016) with 20-plus wins.

FOUR STARTERS RETURN
● The Broncos return four starters from 2018 in senior outside hitter Janell Walley (2.18 kps, 2.81 dps, 0.66 bps), junior outside hitter Kiley Lewis (2.03 kps, 0.56 bps), sophomore middle blocker Jessica Donahue (2.05 kps, 1.42 bps) and sophomore setter Danielle Boss (7.49 aps, 1.65 digs, 0.41 bps).

VETERANS RETURNING
● Boise State returns eight letter winners and one redshirt-freshman from 2018. In addition to the four starters, other letterwinners back include: senior setter Cassedi Simon (13 starts, 7.73 aps, 1.7 dps, 0.35 bps), senior middle blocker Celine Christensen (0.42 kps, 0.71 bps), sophomore outside hitter Shae Duffy (0.87 kps, 0.47 bps) and sophomore outside hitter Carly Moreno (0.67 kps, 0.79 dps, 0.27 bps).

POSTSEASON HONOREES RETURNING
● The Broncos have two individuals returning who were honored during the 2018 campaign by the Mountain West Conference.
● Senior Janell Walley was named to the All-MW Team for the second straight season.
● Meanwhile, sophomore Jessica Donahue played through an injury riddled campaign to be named the MW Freshman of the Year.

SEVEN NEWCOMERS
● The Blue and Orange welcomed seven new faces to the squad in 2019 ... one transfer and six true freshmen.
● Olivia Bradley transferred to Boise State last January after spending fall 2018 at the University of Montana where the middle blocker hit 29.1 percent and averaged 1.6 kps, 0.66 bps and 2.25 pps. Bradley is a native of Nampa, Idaho, which is part of the Boise metro area.
● Six freshmen also joined the team beginning with three libero/defensive specialists: Allison Casillas (Fontana, Calif.), Jordi Holdaway (Monteview, Idaho) and Cameron Gray (Atwater, Calif.).
● The other three are offensive players: Lauren Ohlinger (Phoenix, Ariz.), Elena Howe (Elko, Nev.) and Annie Kaminski (Bellevue, Idaho).

YOUTH BE SERVED
● The Broncos feature a young squad with only four upperclassmen (juniors and seniors) and 12 underclassmen (freshmen and sophomores).
● The upperclassmen include: seniors Janell Walley, Celine Christensen and Cassedi Simon, as well as junior Kiley Lewis.
● The five sophomores are: Danielle Boss, Shae Duffy, Carly Moreno, Jessica Donahue and Olivia Bradley.
● The freshmen include: Alyssa Wissinger (redshirted in 2018), Allison Casillas, Cameron Gray, Jordi Holdaway, Elena Howe, Annie Kaminski and Lauren Ohlinger.

TALLEST TEAM IN HISTORY
● Boise State features its tallest team in history with 10 of 16 players measuring 6 feet or taller.
● Three come in at 6-foot-3: Christensen, Donahue and Ohlinger.
● Four are 6-foot-2: Duffy, Howe, Lewis and Wissinger.
● Three measure 6-foot-1: Bradley, Kaminski and Moreno.

MATCH PREVIEWS

BYU PREVIEW
● Boise State opens the season Friday morning at noon (MT) against No. 9 BYU.
● The Broncos have never defeated the Cougars in eight previous attempts.
● BYU reached the NCAA national semifinals last year before falling to eventual champion Stanford.
● The Cougars are the favorite to repeat as West Coast Conference champions in 2019.
● BYU is 73-3 at home in the last five years and went undefeated last season at 17-0 ... active win streak is 24 straight at home.
● The Cougars return four All-Americans, three starters, the libero and nine letterwinners from 2018.
● The last time the Broncos played BYU was 2017 in Boise, the Cougars won 3-0.

MARQUETTE PREVIEW
● The Broncos have never faced Marquette in volleyball.
The two will meet at 5:30 p.m. (MT) on Friday in Provo, Utah.
● The Golden Eagles enter the weekend ranked 16th in the AVCA Preseason Coaches Poll.
● Marquette advanced to the round of 16 in the NCAA Volleyball Championships last fall.
● Marquette is picked to win the Big East Conference regular-season title in 2019 ... it placed second the last two seasons.

UTAH VALLEY PREVIEW
● Boise State and Utah Valley have met 11 times previously with the Wolverines winning eight to the Broncos three.
● The last time these two met was in 2011 at Boise, the Broncos won 3-1.
● Utah Valley earned a berth into the National Invitational Volleyball Championship (NIVC) last fall where they won at Mountain West member Wyoming before falling in the round of 16 to Portland, also played in Laramie, Wyo.
● UVU is picked to place second in this year's Western Athletic Conference race behind New Mexico State.