May 19, 2016
Printable Schedule
SPRINGFIELD -- The 2016 Missouri State volleyball schedule has been completed and includes a total of 32 matches, 13 of those at Hammons Student Center in Springfield. The Bears will play 13 matches against 10 teams that made the 2015 NCAA Tournament, including seven such contests during the non-conference schedule.
The season begins August 26-27 in Champaign, Ill., where the Bears will play Xavier, Arkansas and Illinois. All three of those clubs finished 2015 with an RPI of 65 or better, while Illinois advanced to the Sweet 16.
Up next is a trip to Hawaii on Sept. 1-3 to face former NCAA champions Hawaii, UCLA and Pacific. The Rainbow Wahine and Bruins each advanced past the first weekend of the NCAA Tournament last season, and join the Bears as three of the top seven programs in NCAA history in terms of total victories.
The annual Dr. Mary Jo Wynn Invitational takes place Sept. 8-10 at Hammons Student Center, with Ohio State, Western Illinois, McNeese State, Green Bay and IUPUI visiting Springfield. OSU was an NCAA Round of 16 club last season.
The Bears head to Milwaukee, Wis., a week later to face Marquette, Iowa State and Milwaukee on Sept. 16-17, after visiting an Arkansas State team that went 28-2 in 2015 on Sept. 13.
Missouri Valley Conference play begins Sept. 23 against Wichita State, and the Bears will play a full 18-match home-and-home league schedule that ends Nov. 19 at Southern Illinois. The MVC Volleyball Championship takes place Nov. 24-26, at a site to be announced in early June.
In total, MSU's 2016 opponents went 421-313 (.574) a season ago, with 14 of the 23 teams boasting an RPI of 100 or better. The Bears will play 18 total matches against those top-100 teams and 23 matches against schools with a winning record last season.
The 2016 season will be the 21st under head coach Melissa Stokes. Stokes has guided the Bears to a 438-213 mark since taking over in 1996, and the team has advanced to the NCAA Tournament in eight of the last 13 seasons while reaching the 20-win mark 16 times in the last 17 years.
