WASHINGTON STATE (16-11, 11-7 WCC) vs. UTAH VALLEY (20-10, 10-6 WAC) | Mountain West Network
SERIES: WSU leads 3-1
Thursday, Dec. 5 // 3 p.m. PT // 4 p.m. MT
Laramie, Wyo. // UniWyo Sports Complex
Listen | Pullman Radio KQQQ, 1150 AM (Steve Grubbs pXp)
Watch | Mountain West Network
Live Stats | Statbroadcast


Washington State Volleyball is set to play in its ninth-straight postseason tournament on Thursday, Dec. 5 when the Cougars take on Utah Valley at 3 p.m. PT in the opening round of the National Invitational Volleyball Championship (NIVC) Tournament in Laramie, Wyoming.

ABOUT WASHINGTON STATE
After the Cougars advanced to the NCAA Tournament for the eighth-straight season in 2023, the program graduated nine players and saw a new coaching staff take shape. Korey Schroeder, after serving one season as an assistant coach at Washington State, was promoted to Head Coach in February of 2024 and quickly got to work building out a coaching staff and nearly an entire roster for the 2024 season.

The Cougs returned five from the 2023 team, including Logann Golden, Weronika Wojdyla, Katy Ryan, Emma Barbero and Lucie Blažková. In addition to the returners, nine newcomers entered the program, including grad transfers Sage Brustad (Eastern Washington), Jaden Walz (Bowling Green) and Jade Warren (College of Idaho); junior transfers Keniya Cleveland (Feather River College), Taryn Vrieling (Idaho) and Kylie Wong (Arizona); and true freshmen Italia Bernal, Haumea Marumoto and Breccan Scheck.

SERIES HISTORY
Thursday's match will be the fifth meeting between Washington State and Utah Valley. The Cougars have won each of their last three meetings, winning in 2015 (3-1), 2009 (3-0) and 2008 (3-0). Their first-ever match up was in 2003, which saw UVU win 3-2 in Salt Lake City, Utah.

NIVC TOURNAMENT HISTORY
The Cougars are making their second appearance in the NIVC Tournament, 22 years after their first NIVC showing in 1992 when they rattled off six-straight sweeps to win the tournament. Their sweeps came against Alabama-Birmingham, Montana, Cornell, Iowa State, Northern Illinois, and then Bowling Green in the championship game.

UP NEXT
With a win, WSU will advance to the second round of the NIVC on Friday, Dec. 6 to play the winner between Wyoming and Idaho State.

For all the latest WSU volleyball news, photos and videos, like the team on Facebook (facebook.com/WSUCougarVB), or follow on Twitter (@WSUCougarVB) and Instagram (@wsucougarvb).