University of Houston Athletics
Volleyball Prepares For Arizona Wildcat Classic
9/3/2009 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
Sept. 3, 2009
HOUSTON - The University of Houston volleyball team heads to Tucson, Ariz., this weekend for the 25th annual Wildcat Classic at the University of Arizona.
The Cougars will play three matches at the tournament, opening Friday with Eastern Washington at 3 p.m. and playing Arizona at 9 p.m. They will play their final match Saturday against Nevada at 1 p.m.
The Cougars are coming off of a 1-3 performance to start the season at the Flo Hyman Invitational last weekend at the Athletics/Alumni Center.
Eastern Washington enters the weekend 1-2 after competing in the Oregon Classic. The Eagles won their season opener against Missouri State then lost their following two matches to Oregon and San Francisco. Friday's match will be only the second meeting between the Cougars and Eagles, with the last meeting resulting in a 3-2 Eagles win in 1985.
Arizona is off to a 3-0 start after defeating Louisville, Belmont and Pittsburgh in the Louisville Tournament during the opening weekend. Houston is 1-6 in its all-time series with Arizona, and the two teams haven't faced each other since an Arizona win in 1993.
Nevada is 1-2 after competing in the Marriott Courtyard/Fairfield Invitational. The Wolf Pack won their season opener against Connecticut before losing their next two matches to UC Irvine and Saint Mary's. Saturday's meeting will be the third ever between the two programs and the series is tied 1-1.
Log onto www.UHCougars.com for a complete wrap-up of each day's events.
All matches at the tournament will be available on Gametracker, by going to the volleyball schedule page on the athletics website. The Cougars match against Arizona will be streamed live and can be accessed at www.ArizonaWildcats.com.
This weekend's tournament opens a month-long road trip for the Cougars. Following the tournament, Houston will face Sam Houston in Huntsville on Sept. 8. The Cougars will not return home until Oct. 2 to play Tulane in their Conference USA home opener.
