The WSU women’s volleyball team hosts the Cougar Challenge tournament this Friday in Bohler Gymnasium.

The WSU volleyball team will open up play against the University of Maryland Eastern Shore, followed by George Washington.

The Cougars are coming off an undefeated tournament last weekend, with a (5-1) record overall, and will carry that momentum through their first three matches at home.

“It’s always whatever match is next, not looking ahead, not looking over anyone, just what we can do about that very next opponent,” said Head Coach Jen Greeny in reference to the three matches they will playing within a 24 hour time frame this upcoming weekend .

The opener against Maryland Eastern Shore (7-2) will be Friday at noon, and will feature a Hawks squad that has only dropped one set away from home.

Leading the way for the Hawks is sophomore outside hitter Lucia Babic, who posts a .314 hitting percentage and was awarded the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Player of the Week award for the week of Aug. 29.

WSU will be coming into the match on the heels of a fantastic display of defense, holding Long Beach State team to a hitting percentage of .041 in their last match.

While WSU went undefeated in their last tournament, the Cougars had trouble playing consistent volleyball offensively and defensively.

“Where we’re preparing for this tournament is being more consistent as a team,” said sophomore outside hitter McKenna Woodford.

The second match for the Cougars will be against GW (4-3). While GW doesn’t have quite the overall record that Maryland Eastern Shore does, they’ve played some very stiff competition.

Opening the season with 3-0 losses to Northwestern and Virginia, GW was able to bounce back, taking a five-set match versus the University of Buffalo to end that tournament. GW has since gone on to take a couple (3-1) victories at Seton Hall and at Loyola Maryland, with a sweep of Canisius College as well.

Freshman outside hitter Skylar Iott will likely be a common sight in this match for GW, as she leads the team in kills this season with 3.88 kills per set in 27 sets played. Iott was awarded Atlantic 10 Conference co-rookie of the week honors for the week of Aug. 28. Iott has burst onto the scene with authority, and could be a major threat come Friday night.

The final match of the tournament for the Cougars will come against a familiar foe in the University of Idaho Vandals.

The Vandals will be coming into the Cougar Challenge with redemption on their mind, as they come off of an (0-3) performance at the Seattle U Tournament, with especially tough matches against No. 5 University of Washington and a very strong Villanova squad.

While they may be .500 on the season, Idaho does bring a solid defensive game, holding opponents to a hitting percentage of just over .200, which should be a good test for the Cougars offense.

With this tournament being the home opener, the matches have a little bit of extra meaning.

“It is important for us to come out and make a statement in our first (home) tournament” Woodford said.

Woodford cites a necessity to start off strong at home and prove to everyone watching what the team is made of.

The Cougar Challenge starts at 9:30 a.m. today. WSU plays Maryland at noon and GW at 7:30 p.m. today and Idaho at 1 p.m. tomorrow. Live streaming can be found on the Pac-12 Network, and will only stream WSU matches.