SAN DIEGO, Calif. – After going 3-0 in its season-opening weekend to claim the 2019 Delaware Classic tournament title, the West Virginia University volleyball team heads to the West Coast to compete in the SDSU/USD Tournament hosted by San Diego State University, as well as the University of San Diego, from Sept. 5-7.
 
The Mountaineers will face Arkansas (3-0) on Thursday in a match slated for a 9 p.m. ET start before taking on host San Diego State (2-1) at 9 p.m. on Friday, held inside Peterson Gym, on San Diego State's campus. WVU will finish the three-day tournament with a 2 p.m. ET match against Arizona (2-1), who is receiving votes in this week's American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Top-25 Poll, hosted by the University of San Diego at Jenny Craig Pavilion.
 
The Mountaineers match against the Aztecs will be streamed live on the Mountain West Network, while Saturday's contest against the Wildcats will air live on Flo Volleyball. Live stats for all three matches can be found on WVUsports.com.
 
Of note, WVU will face all three teams for the first time in program history.
 
The Mountaineers have not played on the West Coast since 2016, when they went 2-1 at the Cal Classic hosted by the University of California at Haas Pavilion, in Berkeley, California.
 
"Kristina (Jordan) is from San Diego, and Katelyn (Evans) is from California," said fifth-year coach Reed Sunahara. "It's good to bring our players back to their home state, especially going back to San Diego, KJ is really excited about going. It's always good to go home, and I think it'll be a great trip for us."
 
A pair of Mountaineers boast ties to California, as senior outside hitter Katelyn Evans and sophomore middle blocker/outside hitter Kristina Jordan are natives of the Golden State. Evans hails from Palmdale and attended Highland High, while Jordan is from San Diego and played for Liberty Charter High. In addition, Sunahara played for UCLA and started his coaching career with the Bruins.
 
West Virginia most recently opened its 2019 season at the Delaware Classic on Aug. 30-31, at the Bob Carpenter Center, in Newark, Delaware. The Mountaineers claimed a 3-1 season-opening win over host Delaware on Friday. WVU concluded the two-day tournament with a pair of sweeps on Saturday, defeating Coppin State and Binghamton to win the 2019 Delaware Classic tournament title.
 
Junior middle blocker Briana Lynch was named the tournament's Most Valuable Player, as well as the WVU Student-Athlete of the Week on Sept. 3, while sophomores Lacey Zerwas and Jordan earned all-tournament team honors for their efforts.
 
Following a 3-0 season-opening weekend, the Mountaineers started the year with three straight wins for the first time under Sunahara.
 
The Razorbacks started their 2019 season with a 3-0 mark, claiming a pair of sweeps and a five-set victory at the Arkansas Classic. Freshman outside hitter Jillian Gillen earned MVP honors, as well as Southeastern Conference (SEC) Freshman of the Week accolades. Gillen led the team with 5.00 points per set, as well as 4.36 kills per set and 2.36 digs per set, in the Razorbacks' season-opening weekend.
 
The Aztecs notched a 2-1 showing in their first weekend of play, as redshirt sophomore Camryn Machado was named the Mountain West Defensive Player of the Week following her performances at the Florida Gulf Coast Homewood Suites Fort Myers Classic. SDSU captured a pair of sweeps on Friday before dropping the championship match to host FGCU on Saturday.
 
The Wildcats also opened the 2019 season with a pair of sweeps before falling in five sets to Samford in the Cactus Classic, held at the McKale Memorial Center, in Tucson, Arizona. As a team, Arizona is hitting .255 and holding its opponents to a .185 clip. Junior outside hitter Paige Whipple paves the way with 2.19 kills per set, while sophomore middle blocker Zyonna Fellows leads the team's blocking efforts with 1.36 per set.
 
West Virginia will remain on the West Coast following the San Diego State Tournament, as the Mountaineers travel to Honolulu, Hawai'i, for a three-day tournament from Sept. 12-14. West Virginia will face host Hawai'i on Sept. 12, followed by UCLA on Sept. 13 and Utah Valley on Sept. 14.
 
For more information on the Mountaineers, visit WVUsports.com and follow WVUVolleyball on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.