LAKE CHARLES—McNeese volleyball will play its third tournament in as many weeks and will end its season opening schedule of 10 straight road matches this weekend with a trip to Pullman, Washington for the Washington State Cougar Challenge.
 
All matches will be streamed live on the Pac 12 Network and live stats will also be available. Both links can be found on mcneesesports.com.
 
 McNeese (0-7) will look to pick up its first win of the season after losses to Sacramento State, Denver, and UC-Santa Barbara last weekend at the Denver Classic. The Cowgirls also dropped a match at Air Force on Monday.
 
Things won't get any easier for the Cowgirls when they open tournament play at 2 p.m. (CT) Friday against #23Washington State (4-0). The Cougars are coming off a 3-1 record last week including two road wins at #7 Northern Colorado that helped them crack the AVCA Top 25 poll.
 
McNeese will also face Stony Brook (3-5) at 7 p.m. Friday evening. A 12 p.m. match against Illinois State (5-1) Saturday will conclude tournament action for the Cowgirls.
 
The Seawolves have lost three of their last four matches and are coming off a 3-1 loss to St. John's on Tuesday.
 
The Redbirds are off to their best start since 2013 and have yet to play a five set match this season. Their only loss was a 3-1 setback to Georgia at the Benson Invitational on Aug. 25.   
 
Heading into the tournament, junior Keegan Nelms leads the Cowgirls with 54 kills for an average of 2.17 per set. Junior Angela McGownd has a team high 102 digs and ranks third in the Southland Conference with 4.25 per set.
 
Setters Caitlin Sharrock and Alexandra Aguilera, who have been sharing playing time so far this season, are dishing out 101 and 91 assists, respectively. Aguilera also leads the team with seven service aces. Sophomore Allison Lippert has 21 blocks to her credit while freshman Paige Havel is right behind with 19.