Women's Volleyball | 9/16/2026 12:30:00 PM

UTAH TECH TOURNAMENT
Who | Utah Tech (5-3) vs. UC Riverside (2-6) | vs. Chicago State (0-9)
When | Friday, Sept. 18 – 6 p.m. | Saturday, Sept. 19 - 10:30 a.m.
Where | Burns Arena - St. George, Utah
Social Media | Instagram + Twitter (X) + #UtahTechBlazers

Complete Utah Tech/SUU Tournament Schedule

• UC Riverside (2-6) vs. Chicago State (0-9) | Thursday, Sept. 17 - 6 p.m. | Burns Arena - St. George, Utah
• Chicago State (0-9) at Southern Utah (0-8)  | Friday, Sept. 18 - 6 p.m. | America First Events Center - Cedar City, Utah
• UC Riverside (2-6) at Southern Utah (0-8)  | Saturday, Sept. 19 - 2 p.m. | America First Events Center - Cedar City, Utah

OPENING SERVE
Utah Tech gets its home slate underway this weekend hosting UC Riverside on Friday night and Chicago State on Saturday morning at the Utah Tech Tournament in Burns Arena.

HOME OPENER
Utah Tech is 13-7 in home openers in the NCAA era and 4-2 while Division I members with wins in 2020, 2021, 2022 & 2025.

The Trailblazers swept Weber State in last year's home opener and seven of their 13 victories in home openers have come in sweeps for Utah Tech.

TRAILBLAZERS WINNERS OF 13 OF LAST 14 IN BURNS ARENA
The Trailblazers are coming off their first-ever perfect home record in program history in 2025 finishing 9-0 and have won 13 of their last 14 home matches dating back to Oct. 12, 2024 against California Baptist.

UT's lone loss coming in the 2024 regular season finale against UT Arlington.

UC IRVINE INVITATIONAL REWIND
Utah Tech swept a pair of matches last weekend at the UC Irvine Invitational downing San Jose State & UC Irvine.

The Trailblazers swept past the Spartans, 25-23, 25-16, 25-20 hitting a season-best .379 as a team.

On Saturday, the Trailblazers completed their second straight sweep of the tournament and third overall sweep of the season winning sets 25-20, 25-22, 25-21 over the Anteaters while notching a season-high 15.0 blocks against UC Irvine.

TREANOR NAMED UCI INVITATIONAL CO-MVP & EARNS BIG SKY OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK HONORS
Treanor earned Co-Most Valuable Player honors of the UC Irvine Invitational as well as earning Big Sky Offensive Player of the Week honors.

The first Trailblazer to earn a weekly Big Sky award this season, Treanor tallied a career-high 20 kills on Friday in a sweep against San Jose State and followed that up on Saturday in a sweep against UC Irvine registering her third double-double of the season finishing second on the team with 10 kills & third on the team with 12 digs.

LAUFISO TABBED ALL-TOURNAMENT SELECTION AT UCI INVITATIONAL
Senior libero Mya Laufiso led the Trailblazers with 13 digs on Friday in a sweep over the Spartans adding seven assists & was second on the team with 15 digs in a sweep against UC Irvine on Saturday & chipped in six assists.

GLANCE AT THE UC RIVERSIDE HIGHLANDERS
UC Riverside is 2-6 on the season with a four-set win over Samford on opening weekend at the Crimson Tide Invitational and swept LSU New Orleans at the SJSU Invite on Sept. 4.

The Highlanders are coming off three losses last weekend at the NAU Lumberjack Classic being swept by the Lumberjacks and Omaha and falling in four sets to Grand Canyon.

UCR is coming off a 9-19 overall record in 2025 and finished eighth in the Big West with a 5-13 mark.

Picked 10th in the Big West preseason poll, the Highlanders currently rank sixth in the conference in blocks per set (2.10) & are seventh in service aces per set (1.41).

Junior libero Misu Nguyen ranks seventh in the Big West in digs (107) and senior outside hitter Andrea Brewer leads the Highlanders in kills (72) & kills per set (2.77).

Head coach Branden Higa in his second season at UC Riveside after 13 seasons at California Baptist earning 209 wins while leading the Lancers.

GLANCE AT THE CHICAGO STATE COUGARS
Chicago State is 0-9 on the season falling in straight sets in all nine matches.

The Cougars, who went 1-25 last season beating New Haven in four sets, were picked eighth in the Northeast Conference preseason poll.

The Cougars are currently third in the eight-team NEC in both blocks (42.5) & blocks per set (1.57), fourth in aces per set (1.07) & service aces (29) and fifth in hitting percentage (.021), & kills per set (6.70).

Senior middle blocker Gracilove Littlejohn is second in the NEC in blocks per set (1.04) and junior outside hitter Nayella George leads the team in kills (45) & kills per set (1.67).

Senior setter Kristine Bakhad leads the team with 129 assists & Littlejohn tops the team with 28.0 blocks.

Head coach Kamille Jones in her second season at Chicago State.

SERIES HISTORY VS. UC RIVERSIDE & CHICAGO STATE
This will be the first-ever meeting for the Trailblazers against UC Riverside and fifth versus Chicago State.

UC Riverside becomes the eighth opponent from the Big West the Trailblazers will face in program history joining Long Beach State (one meeting), CSU Bakersfield (2), Sacramento State (1), California Baptist (27), Fullerton (2), Utah Valley (15), UC San Diego (1) & UC Irvine (1) from the Big West.

Chicago State and Utah Tech were both members of the WAC for two years (2020-21 & 2021-22) where the two programs met four times with each team winning a pair.

The Trailblazers swept both pair of meetings at home in the spring of 2021 while the Cougars swept both contests in the fall of 2021 winning both at home and on the road.

WHERE THE TRAILBLAZERS RANK IN BIG SKY/NCAA IN 2026
As a team, the Trailblazers lead the Big Sky in assists per set (11.89) & kills per set (13.07), rank second in attacks per set (37.32) and are third in blocks per set (2.45) & digs per set (14.86).

Treanor leads the Big Sky in service aces per set (0.50) & is third in in service aces (14) & seventh in kills per set (2.96). 

Nana Asiata ranks fourth in the conference in kills per set (3.32) and Lusia Langi is also fourth in blocks per set (1.24).

Laufiso is tied for eighth in the Big Sky in digs (94) & ninth in digs per set (3.36).

Shayle Dahle is third in the conference in hitting percentage (.407) & 10th in blocks per set (0.96).

UP NEXT
The Trailblazers open Big Sky play on the road next week traveling to Portland State (4-5) on Sept. 24 and Northern Arizona (5-4) on Sept. 26.