McFatrich Announces 2016 MSU Volleyball Schedule
June 23, 2016 | Volleyball
STARKVILLE, Miss. – An array of 2015 NCAA Tournament participants and the rigorous Southeastern Conference highlight a competitive 2016 Mississippi State volleyball schedule, second-year head coach David McFatrich released Thursday.
In total, the Bulldogs will play 32 matches, with 14 at Newell-Grissom and 18 on the road. State will host two non-conference tournaments and will travel to Little Rock, Arkansas, and Manhattan, Kansas, for its other two tourneys.
MSU will play 18 matches in the perennially tough SEC, which saw four programs advance to the NCAA Tournament last season. Of those four, Florida advanced all the way to the quarterfinals.
One of the Bulldogs' toughest tasks will come in the season opener at The Griss, as MSU will play host to Kansas at 7:00 p.m. CT, on Friday, Aug. 26. The Jayhawks finished last season one win short of advancing to the NCAA Women's Volleyball National Championship match. The matchup continues McFatrich's promise that the Bulldogs would play the nation's toughest teams on a yearly basis, as State matched up with 2014 NCAA National Champions Penn State last season.
"We have a very challenging start to the season as we open at home against Kansas, who was in the NCAA final four last year after defeating No. 1 USC to get there," McFatrich said. "Kansas is a high-quality opponent and I consider this match a chance for us to continue to develop. I want to make our state great for volleyball so Bulldog fans don't want to miss this one."
McFatrich's squad will also face Lamar and Eastern Washington to start the 2016 campaign from Aug. 26-27 for the Bulldog Invitational. State will then take on McNeese State on Sunday, Aug. 28 in the final match of the opening weekend.
From there, the Bulldogs will hit the road for consecutive weekends, heading to Arkansas to face UT Martin, Oklahoma and host Little Rock on Sept. 2-3 for the Little Rock Invitational. The following weekend will pit MSU against a pair of 2015 NCAA Tournament participants, as State plays in the Wildcat Classic (Sept. 9-10) in Manhattan. The field includes Kansas State, Miami (FL) and Loyola.
State will conclude non-conference play on Sept. 16-17 at home for the Maroon Classic. The Bulldogs will play host to Eastern Illinois, Troy, Florida International and Portland. EIU is led by a pair of former MSU assistant coaches, with head coach Sam Wolinski and assistant Peter Green leading the Panthers.
McFatrich and the Bulldogs will look to carry over their non-conference success from last season. MSU won 11 non-conference matches in 2015, which is the most in a season since winning 13 in 2000. State also won multiple non-conference tournament titles for the first time since 2010.
"Our non-conference schedule provides us with a great opportunity to get better the closer we get to conference play. Our goal every year is to play the top teams in the nation and the strength of this schedule speaks to that."
MSU will open the 2016 SEC slate on Friday, Sept. 23 with a road contest against Tennessee and Sunday, Sept. 25 at Kentucky. The Bulldogs' first home SEC contest will be the following weekend, as State will host Auburn (Friday, Sept. 30) and Alabama (Sunday, Oct. 2) at The Griss.
Along with Auburn and Alabama, the Bulldogs will welcome Kentucky (Oct. 7), Tennessee (Oct. 23), South Carolina (Nov. 4), Florida (Nov. 6), Ole Miss (Nov. 16), Arkansas (Nov. 20) and Georgia (Nov. 26) to The Griss during SEC play.
State's SEC road contests feature Tennessee (Sept. 23), Kentucky (Sept. 25), Alabama (Oct. 12), Auburn (Oct. 16), Florida (Oct. 21), Arkansas (Oct. 26), Missouri (Oct. 30), Texas A&M (Nov. 11) and LSU (Nov. 13).
"As always, the SEC schedule is going to be a battle from beginning to end," McFatrich said. "We have to play some of the nation's toughest teams every weekend, but I know our team will be up to the challenge every time they step on the court."
The SEC broadcast schedule will be announced later this summer, with complete times and television listings for the 2016 season.
For more information on Mississippi State volleyball, follow the Bulldogs on Twitter, like them on Facebook and join them on Instagram by searching for "HailStateVB." You can also find all-access coverage of the program on SnapChat by searching for "HailStateSnap."
Breaking Down The 2016 HailStateVB Schedule
- 32 total matches (14 home, 11 away, four neutral)
- Four non-conference tournaments
- Home: Bulldog Invitational (Aug. 26-28) & Maroon Classic (Sept. 16-17)
- Away: Little Rock Invitational (Sept. 2-3; Little Rock, Ark.) & Wildcat Classic (Sept. 9-10; Manhattan, Kan.)
- Season/Home Opener: Friday, Aug. 26 vs. Kansas (7:00 p.m.)
- SEC Opener: Friday, Sept. 23 at Tennessee
- SEC Home Opener: Friday, Sept. 30 vs. Auburn
- First-time opponents (6): Eastern Washington, Kansas, Kansas State, Little Rock, Loyola, Miami (FL)
- MSU faces opponents from nine different conferences, including two of the Power 5 conferences
- Big 12 (3): Kansas, Kansas State, Oklahoma
- Ohio Valley (2): Eastern Illinois, UT Martin
- Southland (2): Lamar, McNeese State
- Sun Belt (2): Little Rock, Troy
- ACC (1): Miami (FL)
- Big Sky (1): Eastern Washington
- C-USA (1): Florida International
- Missouri Valley (1): Loyola
- West Coast (1): Portland
