Volleyball travels to Oregon this weekend

September 2, 2010 by Noam Amir-Brownstein 

Team will play No. 19 Michigan on Friday

The UNLV women’s volleyball team (1-2) will travel to Corvallis, Ore., this weekend to play in the Active Ankle Challenge. They will open play against No. 19 Michigan (2-1) on Friday while playing Oregon State (0-3) and Florida Gulf Coast (2-2) on Saturday.

Michigan is coming off their third straight season advancing to the NCAA Sweet 16. They started off their 2010 campaign in the Rocket Classic in Toledo, Ohio. The Wolverines won their first two matches 3-0 before losing to the host team 3-2.

The Oregon State Beavers lost five seniors, four of whom were regular starters, giving their 2010 team a much younger look. They lost an All-American player, but they also have a top 50 recruit coming into the program.

The team will feature seven freshmen. This will be the second straight home tournament for the team, as they hosted the Corvallis Invitational this past weekend, where they lost all three matches.

The Eagles from Florida Gulf Coast are led by Jelena Simic and Holly Youngquist who were both preseason All-Conference selections. They were picked to finish second in the Atlantic Sun Conference preseason poll. They won their first and last matches of the FGCU Homewood Suites Volleyball Invitational, while losing the middle two matches. They will play the No. 18 Oregon Ducks, in Eugene, Ore., on Sept. 1 before traveling upstate for the Active Ankle Challenge.

The Rebels are looking to keep up their winning ways as they are coming off a 3-2 come-from-behind victory over Rutgers in the Long Beach State University tournament. The Rebels had lost their previous two matches 3-0 in the tournament.

Following the Active Ankle Challenge, the Rebels will return to Las Vegas to host the UNLV Invitational, featuring matchups against Eastern Kentucky, Pepperdine and Cal State Fullerton.