Home at Last! Broncos Host Boise State Classic

Thursday, September 19

Boise, Idaho

7:00 p.m. (MT)

Boise State

Idaho State

9/17/2019 4:08:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

Boise State will face Idaho State and UC Irvine in home opening weekend.

By: Courtesy: Boise State Athletics

BOISE STATE CLASSIC

Boise, Idaho | Bronco Gym
Sept. 19-21 (Thursday-Sunday)

TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE

Match 10: Idaho State at Boise State | Sept. 19 | 7 p.m. (Mountain) | Live Stats | MW Network
Neutral: UC Irvine vs. Idaho State | Sept. 20 | 2 p.m. (Mountain) | Live Stats
Match 11: UC Irvine at Boise State | Sept. 21 | 2 p.m. (Mountain) | Live Stats | MW Network
Boise State Notes | Season Stats | Roster | Twitter | Facebook

THIS WEEK

● TOURNAMENT: Boise State (6-3) is home for the first time following three weeks on the road ... the Broncos will host the Boise State Classic this Thursday through Saturday with one match per day.
● THE FIELD: Boise State will face instate-rival Idaho State (3-7) of the Big Sky Conference and UC Irvine (2-7) of the Big West Conference in a round robin format.
● VERSUS THE FIELD: Boise State is a combined 41-37 all-time versus the two schools: Idaho State (34-33) and UC Irvine (7-4) ... both are former conference rivals.
● THURSDAY SCHEDULE: Boise State will open the tournament against Idaho State at 7 p.m. (Mountain) in Bronco Gym ... promotion, team poster give away.
● FRIDAY SCHEDULE: On day two, the neutral match between ISU and UC Irvine will take place at 2 p.m. ... free admission.
● SATURDAY SCHEDULE: The Blue and Orange will close the weekend versus UCI at 2 p.m. Saturday ... promotion, anyone bringing their ticket from Friday night's football game gets in free.
● PARKING: Thursday and Saturday's free parking will be in the Albertsons Stadium Parking lots ... because of Friday's football game, if you plan to attend Friday's neutral volleyball match you will need to park in the Lincoln Parking Garage and tell the attendants you are there for volleyball, it will be free to park.
● FACILITY: All matches this weekend will be played at Bronco Gym on campus.

HEAD COACH NOTES

HEAD COACH SHAWN GARUS
● Coach Garus entered his 11th season at Boise State and 19th overall just 14 wins shy of 300 career wins at 286 ... he is now eight short at 292.
● Garus is 292-254 overall in his 19th year as a collegiate head coach.
● He is currently 184-135 at Boise State in his 11th season.
● At Boise State, 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.

BOISE STATE STORYLINES

CHANGING LINEUPS
● To date, 11 different Broncos have earned at least one start (not including libero) in the first nine contests.
● At this time only Janell Walley, Lauren Ohlinger and Danielle Boss have started every match.

WALLEY LEADS THE BRONCOS
● After nine matches, Janell Walley has led the Broncos to its early success hitting a team-best 40.8 percent ... she has hit 40 percent or better in five matches to date.
● She has tallied 124 kills, eight service aces, three block solos and 29 block assists for 149.5 points on the year.
● She had recorded seven-straight matches in double-figure kills until the Missouri match (Sept. 15).
● Walley tied her career-high for kills against Middle Tennessee (Sept. 6) with 19 ... then broke it with 23 in the victory over Austin Peay (Sept. 13).
● She has four double-doubles on the year for a team-high 12 in her career.

DUFFY COMING ON STRONG
● Shae Duffy has the second most matches this season with double-digit kills with five.
● She hit a career-high 15 in the win over Middle Tennessee (Sept. 6).
● On the year she has a team-second-best 87 kills (2.72 kps) to go with 12 blocks.

BOSS DOUBLING UP
● Sophomore setter Danielle Boss had an active streak of five double-doubles (assists/digs) Aug. 31 thru Sept. 13, all Broncos wins ... that is her total on the year.
● On the year she has 321 assists (10.03 aps) and 84 digs (2.62 dps).

THE BLUE WALL
● The Broncos are ranked 29th nationally and second in the Mountain West for blocks per set at 2.59.
● Last week at the Mizzou Invite (Sept. 13-15) the Broncos recorded 28 blocks as a team for a 2.80 per set average.
● On the year, three Broncos have recorded 30 or more blocks each led by Jessica Donahue (33) followed by Janell Walley (32) and Alyssa Wissinger (30).
● At the Mizzou Invite (Sept. 13-15) Donahue led the team with 11 (1.38 bps) followed by Wissinger with 10 (1.11 bps).
● Walley had a team-high 14 at the Thunderbird Classic (Sept. 6-7), followed by Donahue with 13.
● Redshirt-freshman Alyssa Wissinger led the charge for the Broncos with a team-high 16 at the BYU Nike Invite (Aug. 30-31) to open the season.
● In all, seven Broncos have recorded double-digit blocks on the year: Donahue (33), Walley (32), Wissinger (30), Danielle Boss (16), Lauren Ohlinger (14), Shae Duffy (12) and Olivia Bradley (10).
● Last year, Jessica Donahue led the Broncos with 135 blocks to rank 14th in a season all-time at Boise State.

SIMON LOOKING FOR 1,000TH ASSIST
● Senior setter Cassedi Simon entered the season looking for 13 assists to reach 1,000 in her career.
● She has eight on the season and is now five short of 1,000.
● When Simon does get the five, she will be the 17th Bronco to reach the milestone in program history.
● She entered the year ranked 17th all-time in career assists.

MATCH PREVIEWS

IDAHO STATE PREVIEW
● Boise State will meet Idaho State for the 68th time this Thursday in Bronco Gym at 7 p.m. (MT) ... it will be the Blue and Orange's home opener.
● The Bengals are 3-7 entering the tournament and have lost six straight ... last weekend they fell at Washington State's tournament to WSU (3-0), Liberty (3-0) and Texas-Arlington (3-2).
● Their wins on the year are over Albany (3-1), Abilene Christian (3-1) and Utah Valley (3-1).
● ISU was picked to place sixth out of 11 teams in the Big Sky Conference coaches poll.
● Boise State is 343-33 all-time versus Idaho State and 191-188 against the current membership of the Big Sky ... the Broncos and Bengals are former conference rivals (1982-96).

UC IRVINE PREVIEW
● The Broncos will face the UC Irvine Anteaters Saturday at 2 p.m. (MT) in Bronco Gym ... this will be the 12th meeting all-time.
● The Anteaters enter the weekend at 2-7 overall and are coming off a 1-2 weekend at Air Force's tournament where they collected a 3-2 win over the Falcons and losses to Virginia Tech (3-2) and Loyola Chicago (3-0).
● Boise State and UCI are former conference rivals in the Big West Conference (1996-2000) ... the Broncos lead the series 7-4 all-time.
● The Broncos are 24-63 all-time against the current membership of the Big West.
● UCI was predicted to place fourth in the 2019 BWC race out of nine teams.
● UCI did advance to the 2018 NIVC where it fell 3-0 at UNLV ... UCI will be the seventh team this season that Boise State will face in nonconference play that went to the postseason last year.