Missouri State (2-1) at D.C. Koehl Classic
Dates and Times	Sept. 1, 5 p.m. at #20 Ohio State Sept. 2, 9 a.m. vs. Lipscomb Sept. 2, 5 p.m. vs. Oakland
Location	Columbus, Ohio
Site	St. John Arena
Live Video	Ohio State | Lipscomb | Oakland
Live Stats	Ohio State | Lipscomb | Oakland
Missouri State	Game Notes | Volleyball Home Page
Ohio State	Volleyball Home Page
Lipscomb	Volleyball Home Page
Oakland	Volleyball Home Page

The Missouri State volleyball team (2-1) stays on the road this week for three challenging matches at the D.C. Koehl Classic hosted by Ohio State. The tournament includes three-fourths of last season's NCAA Manhattan Regional, with the Bears, Ohio State and Lipscomb being joined by Oakland University.
    MSU begins play Friday at 5 p.m. Central against 20th-ranked Ohio State (2-1) in the third meeting between the schools in less than a calendar year. The Bears then play two matches on Saturday, taking on Atlantic Sun Conference favorite Lipscomb (2-1) at 9 a.m. and Oakland (3-1) at 5 p.m.
    Missouri State is the near unanimous favorite to repeat as Missouri Valley Conference champions in 2017, and the remainder of a rigorous non-conference schedule includes a trip to Pepperdine (Sept. 8-9) before opening the home slate with the annual Dr. Mary Jo Wynn Invitational Sept. 14-16.

The Opponents
Ohio State is 2-1 on the season and ranked 20th in the most recent AVCA poll after defeating UTRGV and Saint Louis and losing at No. 10 BYU in the season's first weekend. The Buckeyes are led by all-Big Ten setter Taylor Hughes, who has been a teammate of MSU's Lily Johnson the last two summers on the US Collegiate National Team.
    Lipscomb is 2-1 on the year and receiving eight votes in the AVCA Top 25 poll. The Bisons defeated No. 24 Arizona and East Tennessee State and lost to Wichita State during the first weekend of the season. Lipscomb is the preseason favorite to win the Atlantic Sun Conference in 2017, and junior outside hitter Carlyle Nusbaum  is the league's preseason player of the year.
    Oakland completed the first weekend of the season with wins over Eastern Michigan, Stony Brook and Robert Morris, and a five-set loss at Butler. The Golden Grizzlies are picked to finish third in the Horizon League in 2017, and went 19-13 last season.

Series Histories
Missouri State owns a 4-3 series lead over Ohio State, and the series was resurrected with two meetings in 2016 after a quarter century break. Missouri State won in Springfield in five sets on Sept. 9 last season, and the Buckeyes earned a 3-0 win in the first round of the 2016 NCAA Tournament.
    Saturday's matches will be the first between the Bears and both Lipscomb and Oakland.