Utah Valley University head men's basketball coach Dick Hunsaker has released his team's 2008-09 schedule, featuring 16 home games.

"We're excited about our home schedule this year," Hunsaker said. "We have 16 games here at the McKay Events Center highlighted by matches against in-state rivals Utah State and Southern Utah."

Utah State will come to Orem on Dec. 13, and SUU will be in town Dec. 20. Other home games include contests against Louisiana Lafayette, UC Santa Barbara and Lamar University, among others.

The season will open with an exhibition game at home against Mesa State on Nov. 6 at 7 p.m. at the McKay Events Center. The regular-season opener will be on Nov. 14 at home against Northern Arizona.

"I think this is a good schedule for us," UVU Director of Athletics Mike Jacobsen said. "It is indicative of the progress we are making as a program, and we're looking forward to bringing some good teams to our court."

The Wolverines' road schedule is highlighted by games at Northern Arizona, Sacramento State, Montana and San Jose State.

• BYU women's volleyball: For the fourth time in the past five weeks, the No. 21 BYU women's volleyball team will hit the road, playing at New Mexico todady and at TCU on Saturday in Mountain West Conference action.

At 9-3 overall and 2-1 in league play, the Cougars are looking to make a statement and distance themselves from a pack that includes four teams with 2-1 MWC records.

"We're working hard to prepare for two quality opponents," said BYU head coach Shay Goulding. "Our conference is competitive, and we have to be ready to play two tough opponents on the road."

Both matches this week will have several coverage options. Today's match at New Mexico will begin at 7 p.m. and be carried live on both The Mtn. and BYU Radio in addition to CSTV All-Access and GameTracker. Saturday's match at TCU is set for 1 p.m. CT and will be broadcast on BYU Radio at 4:30 p.m. MT to accommodate the Saturday afternoon session of the General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. CSTV All-Access and GameTracker will carry the match live.

• BYU women's soccer: The BYU women's soccer team will make two in-state road trips this week when its faces the Utah State Aggies today at 4 p.m. in Logan and the Utah Utes on Saturday at 7 p.m. in Salt Lake City.

BYU has recorded a 6-5-0 record so far during 2008, and is led by senior All-American forward Katie Larkin. She has scored four goals this season and has one assist. Freshman Lauren Anderson leads the team with five assists. Eight different Cougars have scored this season. The team is out shooting its opponents, 143-132. Freshman keeper McKinzie Olson has started the last started the last four games in goal and has a 1.06 goals-against-average on the season.

The Aggies have notched a 5-6-1 record so far in the 2008 campaign. They lost last week to Cal Poly, 1-0, and beat MWC member Wyoming 2-1. The team is led by sophomore forward Lauren Hansen, who has scored four goals on the season, and junior forward Lauren Salmon, who has three goals. The Aggies have been outscored this season by only one point, 14-13. Senior keeper Ali Griffin is the team's leader in goal, playing in 11 games and recording a 1.25 goals-against-average.

The game with Utah marks the start of 2008 Mountain West Conference play for the 2007 MWC Tournament champion Cougars. It will also be the first meeting of the two schools in the 2008 edition of the Deseret First Duel rivalry series between the two teams. The winner of the game will be awarded six points in the competition.