For the first time in six seasons, Idaho volleyball will open the season at home. The Vandals are set to host the Idaho Volleyball Classic, Aug. 24-25. The tournament field consists of Santa Clara, Grand Canyon and New Mexico.
The action gets underway on Friday with Grand Canyon and New Mexico at 4:30 p.m. Idaho's first match of the season will follow at 7 p.m. against Santa Clara. Saturday features an action-packed day with four matches. Santa Clara and New Mexico open the morning at 10 a.m., followed by Idaho and Grand Canyon at noon. Santa Clara and GCU open the afternoon session at 4:30. Idaho and New Mexico close out the tournament at 7 p.m.
Tickets: All-Tournament passes are $15 for adults and $10 for seniors and youth. Single-day prices are set a $9 for adults, $7 for seniors and faculty and $6 for youth. Idaho students are free with their student ID's.Â
All fans attending the Vandal soccer match Friday, at 4 p.m., will receive a voucher for discounted volleyball tickets. With a voucher, adults can purchase single-session or all-tournament tickets at youth prices, a savings of $3 for single-session and $5 for all-tournament. Vouchers will only be honored Friday night.
Experienced: Idaho returns nine letterwinners from the 2017 season including a class of six seniors.
Preseason: Idaho was picked to finish first in the conference by the Big Sky coaches.
Tenure: Head coach
Debbie Buchanan returns for her 19th season at Idaho. She is the longest tenured coach at Idaho, taking over the program in 2000.
Season Openers: The Vandals are 10-8 in season openers under Coach Buchanan.
North Split: Idaho split the Big Sky North Division last season with North Dakota. It is the second Big Sky North Title for the Vandals since 2014.
About Santa Clara: The Broncos have just one senior on the roster to at the open of 2018. Tatiana San Juan led Santa Clara last year with 3.54 digs per set. She was the team's libero for 15 matches in 2017, recording 10-plus digs in 12 of those matches. Santa Clara has seven juniors on the squad, including Gonzaga transfer Tessie Powers as one of the options at setter. The Broncos finished 2017 15-15 overall and 8-10 in a tough West Coast Conference.Â
About Grand Canyon: The Lopes enter 2018 led by sophomore outside hitter Teagan Defalco. She was the lone GCU representative on the Western Athletic Conference's Preseason All-Conference team. Defalco was a 2017 Freshman All-WAC selection, recording 272 kills and 319 digs. The WAC coaches predicted GCU to finish sixth in the conference in 2018. The Lopes were just 3-11 in WAC play last season and 8-18 overall.Â
About New Mexico:  UNM returns three of its top offensive threats from 2017. Junior Lauren Twitty led the offense with 412 kills, followed by a pair of redshirt seniors Mariessa Carrasco (258) and Victoria Spragg (243). The Lobos were picked to place fifth in the Mountain West Conference, improving on their eighth-place finish last season (16-16, 7-11 MWC).
Fans can stay up-to-date on all things Idaho volleyball by following the team on Instagram and Twitter, @IdahoVolleyball. Visit GoVandals.com/Tickets for more information on season and single match tickets.
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