Auburn Volleyball announces 2016 schedule
AUBURN, Ala. (auburntigers.com)– The 2016 Auburn volleyball squad is slated to take on a challenging schedule that includes eight NCAA Tournament participants and two home tournaments, head coach Rick Nold announced Wednesday.
Auburn returns five of its six starters and libero from the 2015 season where the team went 18-12 overall with a 10-8 record in the SEC to finish sixth overall.
“We are really excited about the schedule we have planned for 2016,” Nold said. “Our goal was to provide this team the type of competition it will need to be best prepared for both the SEC season and the NCAA tournament. I believe we have done that. We have three former Final Four teams in addition to many teams we expect to compete for their conference championships. As a team, we are ready for this challenge and we look forward to exciting season.”
The Tigers will play 16 home matches at Auburn Arena, where they finished with an impressive 11-3 record last season. In addition, Auburn will face a tough non-conference slate, including two tournaments national powerhouses Louisville and Michigan.
Auburn begins the season hosting the War Eagle Invitational, Aug. 26-27. The Tigers will host Georgia Tech, Furman and Pacific, opening up vs. the Yellow Jackets Friday at 7 p.m. Auburn closes out the weekend against Furman and Pacific the next day.
Following a Tuesday night match vs. Kennesaw State (Aug. 30), the Tigers will travel to Louisville for a strongly fielded tournament that features two NCAA tournament participants in the host Cardinals and Santa Clara (Sept. 2-3). Auburn will take on Stony Brook to start the weekend and follows with matches vs. the Broncos and Louisville.
The Tigers return home for another tournament, Sept. 9-10, hosting Jacksonville, Memphis and Miami (Ohio). Auburn begins with a match against Memphis and then takes on Jacksonville to open the invitational Friday. The team caps the tournament with a match vs. the Redhawks Saturday.
Auburn’s non-conference schedule will wrap up with a tournament at NCAA postseason participant Michigan that includes Colgate, Eastern Michigan, and the Wolverines. The Tigers will face host Michigan and follow with a pair of matches in Ypsilanti, Mich., against Colgate and EMU.
The team’s SEC schedule will kick off Friday, Sept. 23, as Auburn hosts conference rival LSU in Auburn Arena. The Orange and Blue caps the month on the road at defending SEC champion Texas A&M (Sept. 25) and Mississippi State (Sept. 30).
October opens on the road at Georgia, Sunday, Oct. 2. Auburn then hosts a four-match homestand, opening with another NCAA tournament contestant in Missouri (Oct. 7). The team follows with three SEC rivals in Alabama (Oct. 9), Georgia (Oct. 12) and Mississippi State (Oct. 16). The final matches of the month put Auburn on another road stretch, traveling to Ole Miss (Oct. 19), Arkansas (Oct. 23) and Tennessee (Oct. 30).
Auburn has a tough schedule to close out the regular season in November, featuring a handful of challenging road trips. The Tigers open at home with the team’s lone faceoff of the season vs. Kentucky, Nov. 4. They follow with a match vs. Ole Miss in Auburn Arena, Nov. 6.
Three of the team’s final five matches will be played on the road, beginning with at rival Alabama. The Tigers and the Crimson Tide will face off at 5 p.m. CT, Nov. 9. Auburn then heads to Columbia, Mo., to take on Missouri (Nov. 18) before returning to Auburn Arena for a match against South Carolina (Nov. 20).
The Tigers travel to Gainesville, Fla., for a match vs. NCAA Elite Eight contestant Florida, Nov. 23. The regular season will close at home for the squad as Auburn hosts Texas A&M at 12:30 p.m., Nov. 26, on Senior Day.
