SPRINGFIELD – A pair of home tournaments and a total of 13 matches against teams that played in the 2018 postseason highlight Missouri State's 32-match volleyball schedule this fall.

The Bears will play home 16 matches at Hammons Student Center, including four of the team's six top-50 RPI contests on the year and three NCAA Tournament teams from a season ago.

The season begins with the annual Dr. Mary Jo Wynn Invitational Aug. 30-31 in Springfield, with Jacksonville, DePaul, and Southeast Missouri State coming to HSC for the opening weekend.

The Bears make a midweek trip to Oral Roberts on Sept. 3 before traveling to New Orleans to face Tulane, Ole Miss and Houston Baptist on Sept. 6 and 7. The host Green Wave finished runner-up in last season's inaugural National Invitational Volleyball Championship, posting with a 29-9 final record.

Missouri State is back home for another tournament Sept. 12-14, hosting Kansas State, Southern Methodist, Dayton and Weber State. KSU and UD both ranked in the top 50 of the RPI last year.

MSU then closes the non-conference schedule at Ball State's tournament, taking on the Cardinals, Wright State and Austin Peay on Sept. 20-21 in Muncie, Ind.

Missouri Valley Conference play begins Sept. 27 at defending league co-champion Illinois State, and the Bears play the league's five 2018 postseason qualifiers in their first five Valley matches through an Oct. 11 date at Valparaiso. The full 18-match home-and-home league schedule ends with a Nov. 22 home match against Southern Illinois, and the MVC Tournament takes place Nov. 28-30 in Cedar Falls, Iowa.

The Bears will host the annual Maroon and White Scrimmage on Aug. 24. Missouri State posted the program's 20th consecutive winning record, both overall and in MVC play, in 2018, and returns 65 percent of total kills, 83 percent of assists, 59 percent of aces, 57 percent of the digs and 58 percent of the blocking from that squad.