CULLOWHEE, N.C. – Western Carolina volleyball plays its first-ever matches in the state of Arizona this weekend as the Catamounts head to Grand Canyon University in Phoenix for the GCU Classic.

The Catamounts open the tournament against the host Lopes at 10 p.m. ET Friday before facing Rider at 1 p.m. ET on Saturday and Villanova at 7:30 p.m. ET that evening. Live stats will be available for all three matches via a link on CatamountSports.com with the Grand Canyon match streamed on ESPN+ (paid subscription required). Of its three opponents, WCU has never faced Grand Canyon or Rider and dropped its lone match against Villanova in 2002.

WCU is 0-2 on the season following a pair of 3-1 losses to UNC Asheville and Davidson at the Wildcat Classic last weekend. Grand Canyon (3-0) swept the Idaho Volleyball Classic with wins over Eastern Washington, Nevada, and Idaho. Rider is 0-3 with setbacks against Temple, Delaware, and Villanova while Villanova enters at 2-1 with the aforementioned win over Rider and a victory against Delaware, suffering its lone loss against Stanford.

The Catamounts sit atop four statistical categories in the Southern Conference, ranking first in assists per set (12.38), kills per set (13.38), blocks per set (2.62), and digs per set (19.12). Junior Johnna Robinson leads the league and ranks fifth nationally with 2.25 blocks per set while sophomore Destinee Dorsey paces the conference and is seventh nationally in digs per set with 6.25.

Following the GCU Classic, WCU remains on the road, heading to the Colonel Challenge hosted by Eastern Kentucky on Sept. 10-11.

Keep track of everything related to Catamount volleyball and WCU Athletics through its social media outlets on Facebook (fb.com/catamountsports), Instagram (@wcu_catamounts, @catamountvb), and Twitter (@catamounts, @catamountvb).