The 2007 Missouri State volleyball schedule has been completed and includes a total of 31 matches, 15 of those at Hammons Student Center in Springfield. The schedule includes six matches against members of the 2006 NCAA Tournament field, four of those on the non-conference slate. Missouri State will also host the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament Nov. 23-24.

The season opens with the Dr. Mary Jo Wynn Invitational Aug. 24-25 in Springfield, a busy weekend where Hammons Student Center will play host to Tulsa, Delaware State, Sacramento State, UMKC and Missouri State in a round-robin tournament that includes 10 matches in two days. The Hornets of Sacramento State went 30-6 and advanced to the NCAA Tournament last season.

The Bears hit the road for two weeks after the season opener, beginning with the Michigan State Classic for matches against the Spartans, Florida State and Kansas. MSU then travels to Chattanooga, Tenn., for the Holiday Inn Express Challenge. The Bears will face North Carolina-Asheville, Tennessee Tech and host Tennessee-Chattanooga Sept. 7-8 before stopping in Murfreesboro, Tenn., on the way home for a Sept. 9 tilt with 2006 NCAA second-round participant Middle Tennessee.

Conference play begins at home on Sept. 14 with defending champion UNI, and the Bears will play a full 18-match home-and-home MVC schedule that ends Nov. 17 at UNI’s McLeod Center.

The final two non-conference matches will be home contests against Oral Roberts on Sept. 25 and South Dakota State on Oct. 7.

Ticket information can be obtained by calling the Missouri State athletics box office at (417) 836-7678.

The 2007 season will be the 12th under head coach Melissa Stokes. Stokes has guided the Bears to a 245-114 mark since since taking over in 1996, and the team has advanced to the NCAA Tournament in three of the last four seasons. Last year, Missouri State earned the program’s first ever NCAA victory with a 3-1 win at Arkansas in the first round.