SPRINGFIELD, Mo. -- The 2010 Missouri State volleyball schedule has been completed and includes a total of 30 matches, 16 of those at Hammons Student Center in Springfield. The Bears will play nine matches against seven teams that made the 2009 NCAA Tournament, including five during the non-conference schedule.

    The season opens August 27-28 in Hempstead, N.Y., with matches against North Carolina A&T, Canisius, 2009 NCAA qualifier Texas State, and host Hofstra.

    Labor Day weekend sees the Bears host the first of two consecutive home tournaments. The JQH Invitational takes place Sept. 3-5 at Hammons Student Center and includes 2009 NCAA teams Ohio and Texas A&M, along with Southeast Missouri State and North Carolina joining the Bears in the tournament.

    The Dr. Mary Jo Wynn Invitational takes place the next week with a challenging field including Utah, Oklahoma and Saint Louis. The latter two were NCAA teams in 2009, while Utah has played in the postseason 10 of the last 12 seasons.

    Missouri Valley Conference play begins Sept. 17 at defending champion Northern Iowa, and the Bears will play a full 18-match home-and-home league schedule that ends Nov. 20 at home against UNI. The State Farm MVC Championship takes place Nov. 25-27, with the site to be announced later this month.

    Missouri State’s lone non-conference match after league play begins will be a Sept. 28 trip to SIU Edwardsville.

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

    The 2010 season will be the 15th under head coach Melissa Stokes. Stokes has guided the Bears to a 314-145 mark since since taking over in 1996, and the team has advanced to the NCAA Tournament in five of the last seven seasons. Last year, the Bears went 21-10 overall and finished second in the MVC while reaching the 20-win mark for the 11th consecutive year, the seventh longest active streak in the country.