ALBUQUERQUE--The 2016 volleyball season is set to begin for the Idaho Vandals on Friday with a pair of matches. Idaho will open the UNM Invitational at 9a.m. PT against Fairfield and return to the court again at 4:30 p.m. to take on Abilene Christian. The Vandals wrap up the tournament on Saturday against the host New Mexico. 

Quotable: "[This tournament] is really going to come down to us. We are 12 underclassmen right now out of the 15 players we have healthy. We are just going to have to maintain our errors. Obviously, we need to see were we match up. We thing we are playing really good defense right now and our offense is fast. Can we go do that against other teams is what we are going to find out." - Head coach Debbie Buchanan. 

Postseason Streak: 2015 marked Idaho's 11th consecutive conference postseason tournament. The Vandals won Big Sky championships in their final four seasons in the Big Sky, 1992-95, before returning to the conference in 2014.

Youth Movement: Idaho boasts a young roster in 2016 with 12 underclassmen (seven freshmen, five sophomores).

Preseason Poll: Idaho was picked to finish sixth in the conference by the Big Sky coaches

About Fairfield: The Stags won the MAAC in 2015, advancing to the NCAA Tournament. Fairfield was picked to repeat as conference champions in 2016 with a squad that features 10 returning players. Like the Vandals, Fairfield is one of the youngest teams in the MAAC with 11 underclassmen on the roster. Junior outside hitter Megan Theiller, the 2015 MAAC Tournament's Most Valuable Player, looks to be one of the Stags' main offensive threats. She posted double-doubles in both of the team's postseason wins – including a career-high 22-kill performance in the MAAC Championship match. She ranked seventh in the conference with 3.11 kills per set, reaching double figures in 20 matches, and notched 2.98 digs per frame. ALL-TIME SERIES: 0-1; Last meeting, 1999.

About ACU: The Wildcats had a disappointing 2015 season, going 9-20. All nine wins for ACU came in Southland Conference play. Head coach Jason Bibler is in the start of his third season, working with a team that has just two seniors in 2016. ACU went 9-7 in conference play, turning its season around and finishing fourth in the conference. This year the team was picked to place sixth in the Southland Conference. ALL-TIME SERIES: 0-0.

About New Mexico: The Lobos were selected to finish fourth in the Mountain West in 2016. New Mexico has a veteran team with three seniors and four juniors. Senior outside hitter, Devanne Sours, figures to make an impact on offense. She totaled 355 total kills in 2015, averaging 3.06 kills per set. Senior Cassie House offers a big defense presence at the net for the Lobos. She played a part in 86 total blocks a year ago. ALL-TIME SERIES: 0-0.

FOLLOW: Live stats are available through GoVandals.com.  Fans can also follow along live on Twitter, @IdahoVolleyball.