Boise State Readies for Critical SLC Midseason Tournament

WHAT'S NEXT

Boise State beach volleyball will compete at the Southland Conference Midseason Tournament in New Orleans, La., March 22-24. The Broncos will play a total of six duals at the three-day event.

WHAT'S AT STAKE

The SLC Midseason Tournament marks the only conference competition the league will play against each other. Therefore, the results the weekend will determine seeding for the SLC Championship, with the winning team earning a SLC regular season championship.

THE EVENT

The Broncos (14-7, 1-0 SLC) will open the event on Friday with a dual against Houston Christian followed by a matchup with New Orleans. On Saturday, Boise State will get a rematch from last year's SLC Championship Dual against No. 20 Texas A&M-Corpus Christi before finishing the day against Nicholls State. Boise State will wrap up competition on Sunday against McNeese State and San Jose State.

SLC REWIND

In their first year of competition in the SLC last season, the Broncos finished 4-2 at the midseason event and earned a No. 3 seed at the conference's postseason tournament in Corpus Christi, Texas. Boise State worked its way to the championship match, eventually falling to Texas A&M-Corpus Christi 3-1.

SCOUTING THE COMPETITION

Boise State is one of two teams from the conference who are either in the AVCA Collegiate Beach Poll or are receiving votes. Texas A&M-Corpus Christi slid into the rankings on Tuesday at No. 20, becoming the conference team to be ranked in league history. Boise State received 12 votes, the most of any team left out of the rankings. The two are the only two teams with winning records in the league, thought New Orleans (7-8), San Jose State (6-7) and Southeastern Louisiana (6-7) have the potential to change that this weekend.

LAST TIME OUT

The Broncos are coming off a successful weekend at the Sugar Beach Bash in Hammond, La. The squad finished 3-1 at the two-day event, including the program's third victory over a ranked opponent with a 4-1 victory over No. 20 Tampa. Boise State also picked up its first conference victory with a 5-0 sweep of Southeastern Louisiana and ended the weekend with a thrilling 3-2 victory over Tulane.

DOMINANT DUO

Marlayna Bullington and Sierra Land were named the SLC Pair of the Week on Tuesday, marking the second time the Broncos' top duo has received the recognition. The pair finished 4-0 at the Sugar Beach Bash, including a 21-17, 21-14 win over No. 20 Tampa's top team of Teona Treskounov and Angel Williams. The 4-0 performance moved the duo to 16-5 from the No. 1 court this season, breaking the program record for most wins on the top court in a single season.