2012 SCHEDUL (HTML) | 2012 SCHEDULE (PDF)
MOREHEAD, Ky. – Coming off its first-ever NCAA Tournament appearance in 2011, the Morehead State volleyball team will face another daunting schedule in 2012. The ledger is highlighted by 16 home matches and five contests against 2011 NCAA Tournament teams.
MSU will host back-to-back tournaments on the second and third weekends of the season and will entertain eight Ohio Valley Conference foes in Wetherby Gym.
The Eagles open the campaign on Aug. 24-25 in Louisville facing three NCAA Tournament qualifiers at the Final Four Preview. MSU begins the event against five-time national champion Penn State on Aug. 24. The Eagles then battle host Louisville and 31-match winner Western Kentucky on Aug. 25.
The 2012 home opener is set for Aug. 28 against Xavier. MSU also has one other non-conference mid-week match on Sept. 4 at Marshall.
MSU remains at home on Aug. 31-Sept. 1 for the annual Comfort Inn and Suites Invitational. The Eagles face new Division I member Northern Kentucky before squaring off with Evansville and Alabama A&M.
The Eagles are back home on Sept. 7-8 for the Eagle Challenge, highlighted by a visit from NCAA Tournament team Missouri. MSU will also entertain South Carolina State. Valparaiso and Savannah State in the two-day event.
MSU’s final tournament before conference play is Sept. 14-15 at UNC Greensboro’s Spartan Spiketacular. The Eagles will open with Youngstown State on Sept. 14 before facing UNC Wilmington and the host team on Sept. 15.
The OVC is playing a 16-match divisional format schedule this season. MSU will play the five other teams (Belmont, Eastern Kentucky, Jacksonville State, Tennessee State and Tennessee Tech) in its division twice and the other division once. The Eagles face Austin Peay, Eastern Illinois and SIU Edwardsville on the road and Murray State, Southeast Missouri and UT Martin at home.
Three of the Eagles’ first four OVC matches are set for Wetherby Gym. The league lid-lifter is Sept. 21 against newest member Belmont. A road contest at EKU is in between home contests versus TSU (Sept. 22) and Murray State (Sept. 29).
Following the first four league tussles, MSU heads on the road for the next four, starting at EIU (Oct. 5) and SIUE (Oct. 6). The Eagles are next at JSU (Oct. 12) and Tech (Oct. 13) before returning home for four straight.
MSU hosts SEMO (Oct. 19) and UTM (Oct. 20) to open the homestand and wraps it up the following weekend with Tech (Oct. 26) and JSU (Oct. 27).
Three of the final four league contests are on the road, starting with a weekend trip to Nashville to face TSU (Nov. 2) and Belmont (Nov. 3). The final regular season road match is at Austin Peay (Nov. 10). MSU’s final home match is against league rival EKU (Nov. 7).
The OVC Tournament, which the Eagles have hosted the last two seasons, is set for Nov. 15-17 at the site of the highest seed. Because of Belmont’s addition and the move to a divisional scheduling model, the OVC Tournament will expand from six to eight teams this season.
Once again, the OVC Tournament champion will face off against Louisville on Nov. 24 prior to the NCAA Tournament.
A full schedule of promotions and activities surrounding the 15 home matches will be available on MSUEagles.com later this year.
The 2011 Eagles finished 26-8 overall and 19-1 in the OVC, setting a record for conference victories. MSU earned its first trip to the NCAA Tournament where it faced No. 5 national seed Purdue. The 2012 roster features the top three offensive producers from a year ago – including the OVC’s kill leader, an all-conference and all-region setter, the league Freshman of the Year and the school’s single-season record holder for digs.
