No. 3 BYU opens 2020 season with two big road matches

PROVO, Utah – No. 3 BYU men’s volleyball will begin the 2020 season against two ranked opponents as the Cougars travel to No. 11 Loyola-Chicago on Friday, Jan. 3, and No. 6 Lewis on Saturday, Jan. 4.

BYU Game Notes

BYU and Loyola-Chicago will begin at 7 p.m. CST with the match streamed live on ESPN3. The Cougars and the Ramblers have met in four previous season openers. The two teams split the four matches with Loyola-Chicago winning the last meeting in five sets in Provo, Utah, to start the 2018 season. With the overall series tied at 5-5, BYU will have to earn its first win in Alumni Gym to take control of the series.

BYU and Lewis will play at 7 p.m. on GLVC Sports Network. With a commanding 17-3 record over the Flyers, the Cougars are 4-1 in Romeoville, Illinois. Lewis won the Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association championship last season and reached the semifinals in the 2019 NCAA Tournament to finish the season ranked fourth in the nation.

Two-time All-American opposite hitter Gabi Garcia Fernandez and All-American outside hitter Davide Gardini headline a very experienced BYU roster. The Cougars return 16 players that have spent at least one season with the program, including two redshirt freshmen and one player returning to the program after a two-year church mission.

Ranked third in the country and picked to win the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation, BYU is looking to win its fourth conference championship in five seasons and return to the NCAA Tournament after missing it last year for the first time since 2012.

Shawn Olmstead returns for his fifth season as head coach of the BYU men’s volleyball program with the highest winning percentage of any active head coach in NCAA DI-II (88-28, .759).