WSU Volleyball will travel out to Texas this weekend to participate in the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) Tournament on Friday at the UTRGV Fieldhouse in Edinburg, Texas.

The team will start their morning against Houston Baptist at 8 a.m.

The Cougars beat their competition in the early half of this season. With a current record of 8-1, WSU has swept its opponents in seven of those matches. The only loss came against the University of Iowa.

Senior libero Alexis Dirige wants her teammates to be filled with confidence as they head into this weekend’s tournament.

“The point of this preseason for us with seven new freshmen is really just to get experience and get in a rhythm on our side of the court and get used to playing with one another,” Dirige said.

This year’s team has a lot of fresh faces, and they showed out in the Cougar Challenge. Freshman outside hitter Pia Timmer led WSU in kills (29) and she tied for first on the team in aces (4).  Freshman setter Hannah Pukis anchored the offensive attack with 99 total assists and freshman middle blocker Magda Jehlarova totaled 17 overall blocks.

The team understands their performance has put many on notice, but they know staying focused is a must.

“Some things we are doing, is going into practice and reminding everyone that we are still trying to work on things and get better,” Dirige said. “Once Pac-12 starts that does not mean we are done working on things, but we have a lot of preparation to do in order to hang.”