MORGANTOWN, W.Va.  – Perennial national contender Penn State will travel to Morgantown on opening weekend, marking the first of 13 matches against NCAA-qualifying teams on the West Virginia University volleyball team’s 2017 schedule, as announced by Director of Athletics Shane Lyons today.

 

“I’m looking forward to the new season,” coach Reed Sunahara, who enters his third season in Morgantown, said. “I thought last season we showed improvement, and we want to build on that. We have a good core of seniors that will provide us strong leadership into our upcoming season. Our preseason will be a good indication of where we stand. We have a tough overall schedule, and I’m look forward to the challenge.”

 

The Mountaineers unofficially open the season on Aug. 19, when fans can get a sneak peek of the squad at the annual Gold/Blue Scrimmage at the WVU Coliseum.

 

West Virginia embarks on the 2017 slate at home, welcoming a trio of opponents to the WVU Coliseum for the WVU Invitational on Aug. 25-26. The Mountaineers face former WVU assistant coach Sara (Kidd) Matthews and her Delaware Blue Hens on Friday before welcoming UT-Martin and Penn State on Saturday.

 

WVU hits the road for Minneapolis, Minnesota, on Sept. 1-2 to play in the Diet Coke Classic, hosted by Minnesota. The Mountaineers open against the Golden Gophers on Friday evening, then face Tennessee and the University of Texas at San Antonio on Saturday afternoon.

 

On Sept. 8-9, West Virginia treks to Dayton, Ohio, for the Wright State Tournament. The team will face Tennessee Tech, followed by Harvard, on Friday. It will wrap up play on Saturday against host Wright State before heading down to Huntington, West Virginia, to face Marshall on Tuesday, Sept. 12.

 

The Mountaineers will cap tournament play Sept. 15-16 at the Black Knights Invitational in West Point, New York. WVU will face Akron on Friday afternoon before taking on host Army on Friday night. The squad will close out the tournament on Saturday afternoon against Providence.

 

The start of conference play brings back-to-back matches against teams that qualified for the 2016 NCAA Tournament, as rival TCU comes to town Wednesday, Sept. 20, followed by perennial national contender Texas on Sept. 23. West Virginia finishes out the month with a trip to Lubbock, Texas, where the team will face Texas Tech on Wednesday, Sept. 27.

 

The Mountaineers open October at home against nationally ranked Kansas on Wednesday, Oct. 4, before returning to Texas to face Baylor on Saturday, Oct. 7, in Waco. WVU will host Oklahoma on Friday, Oct. 13, in Morgantown before heading to Ames, Iowa, to face Iowa State on Wednesday, Oct. 18. The Mountaineers then host K-State in Morgantown on Saturday, Oct. 21. The following week, WVU heads to Texas for a pair of matches. The Mountaineers will face TCU in Fort Worth on Thursday, Oct. 26, before traveling to Austin on Saturday, Oct. 28, for a tilt at Texas. West Virginia returns to Morgantown to cap the nonconference slate on Tuesday, Oct. 31, when foe Robert Morris comes to the WVU Coliseum.

 

After traveling to Norman, Oklahoma, to face OU on Saturday, Nov. 4, WVU returns home for a three-match homestand at the Coliseum. Iowa State comes to town on Wednesday, Nov. 8, followed by Texas Tech on Saturday, Nov. 11. The Mountaineers wrap up their home slate by hosting Baylor on Sunday, Nov. 19. WVU will close the regular season in Kansas over Thanksgiving, as the squad travels to Manhattan on Wednesday, Nov. 22, to face K-State before heading to Lawrence to take on Kansas on Saturday, Nov. 25.

 

Please visit the schedule page on WVUsports.com for updated match times. All times listed are Eastern and subject to change. Tickets for all home matches can be purchased at WVUGAME.com, by calling 1-800-WVU-GAME or by visiting the Mountaineer Ticket Office at the gold gate of the WVU Coliseum.