INDIANAPOLIS – The reigning Summit League Tournament champions and the defending two-time Summit League regular-season champion IUPUI Jaguars begin their quest for another championship run on Friday, Aug. 29, when they travel to Morgantown, W. Va., for their season-opening tournament at the Blue and Gold Player's Challenge hosted by West Virginia University.

IUPUI opens the season by squaring off against Toledo at 4 p.m. on Friday, Aug. 29, before taking on No. 9 BYU and West Virginia at 11:30 a.m. and 7 p.m., respectively, on Saturday, Aug. 30. All three matches will be played at the WVU Coliseum.

"We are ready to get things started this weekend against some tough competition," head coach Steve Payne said. "We are going to find out quickly how well we prepared during the summer and during the preseason. Our players are excited to get started."

This weekend marks the program's first matches against both BYU and West Virginia and just its second match against the Rockets.

The Jags return four starters from last year's squad in Kaitlyn Hickey, Beth Howard, Kelly Wachtel and Logan Walling, with Hickey and Howard both earning all-conference recognition. Howard was also tabbed the 2013 Summit League Defensive Player of the Year and she enters the campaign as the only active player in the conference to rank in the Top 20 in league history in digs.

In addition to the four starters, the Jags also welcome back five reserves that all saw action last year in Alexis Mapes, Meredith Farkas, Caitlin Farus, Courtney Halter and Skylar Wright. Farkas returns as the team's and the league's top server from last year posting 48 aces, while Mapes and freshman Ashley Hacker will be tasked with replacing IUPUI's all-time assists leader Alexis Meeks.

"Alexis (Mapes) is coming in with one year of watching Alexis Meeks run the offense and she has come back this year ready to go," Payne said last Saturday following the team's annual Alumni Game. "Ashley adds some height to our front row so we have different options between the two of them."

Hacker will be one of four true freshmen looking to contribute this season joining Gabby Fisher, Kori Waelbroeck and Jessica Helms. Abby Horn will also give the Jags depth in the front row this season after redshirting in 2013.

Live stats for all of this weekend's matches will be available on IUPUIJags.com, and Saturday evening's match against the Mountaineers will be live streamed.