Earlier in the year I previewed the women’s soccer schedule. Now we’ll take a look at this year’s volleyball schedule.
Bold for home games, * for Summit League games.
Day of Week | Date | Opponent | Location | Time (CT) | Record Last Year | Conference Last Year | Conference Finish Last Year | RPI Last Year |
Friday | 8/30 | Houston Baptist | Houston, Texas | 7 PM | 20-11 (7-1) | Great West | 1st | 137 |
Saturday | 8/31 | UT-Pan American | Houston, Texas | Noon | 10-19 (3-5) | Great West | 3rd | 280 |
Saturday | 8/31 | Louisiana | Houston, Texas | 5 PM | 16-16 (6-8) | Sun Belt | 8th | 196 |
Friday | 9/6 | SIUE | Sapp Fieldhouse | 6 PM | 9-18 (5-11) | Ohio Valley | 9th | 283 |
Saturday | 9/7 | Southern Utah | Sapp Fieldhouse | 11 AM | 12-20 (8-12) | Big Sky | 8th | 236 |
Saturday | 9/7 | Bradley | Sapp Fieldhouse | 5 PM | 9-20 (3-15) | Missouri Valley | 9th | 235 |
Friday | 9/13 | Louisiana Tech | Hammond, Louisiana | 11 AM | 3-27 (0-18) | WAC | 10th | 308 |
Friday | 9/13 | Southeastern Louisiana | Hammond, Louisiana | 5 PM | 11-19 (5-13) | Southland | 8th | 246 |
Saturday | 9/14 | Stetson | Hammond, Louisiana | 9 AM | 4-31 (0-18) | Atlantic Sun | 10th | 311 |
Saturday | 9/14 | Southern | Hammond, Louisiana | 3 PM | 4-25 (1-7) | SWAC | 8th | 324 |
Thursday | 9/19 | Oklahoma | Norman, Oklahoma | 7 PM | 22-11 (10-6) | Big 12 | 4th | 27 |
Friday | 9/20 | Miami | Norman, Oklahoma | 4 PM | 25-6 (17-3) | ACC | 2nd | 28 |
Saturday | 9/21 | LIU Brooklyn | Norman, Oklahoma | Noon | 25-8 (16-0) | Northeast | 1st | 125 |
Saturday | 9/21 | Tulsa | Norman, Oklahoma | 5 PM | 26-10 (14-2) | Conference USA | 1st | 49 |
Saturday | 9/28 | Western Illinois* | Sapp Fieldhouse | 5 PM | 11-17 (4-12) | Summit League | 8th | 228 |
Friday | 10/4 | Fort Wayne* | Fort Wayne, Indiana | 7 PM | 25-7 (12-4) | Summit League | 2nd | 56 |
Saturday | 10/5 | IUPUI* | Indianapolis, Indiana | 5 PM | 22-10 (13-3) | Summit League | 1st | 101 |
Friday | 10/11 | North Dakota State* | Sapp Fieldhouse | 7 PM | 13-18 (8-8) | Summit League | 5th | 165 |
Sunday | 10/13 | South Dakota State* | Sapp Fieldhouse | 2 PM | 16-13 (8-8) | Summit League | 5th | 166 |
Friday | 10/18 | Denver* | Denver, Colorado | 7 PM | 17-13 (10-8) | WAC | 5th | 138 |
Sunday | 10/20 | South Dakota* | Vermillion, South Dakota | 7 PM | 14-14 (8-8) | Summit League | 5th | 161 |
Saturday | 10/26 | Western Illinois* | Macomb, Illinois | 5 PM | 11-17 (4-12) | Summit League | 8th | 228 |
Friday | 11/1 | IUPUI* | Sapp Fieldhouse | 7 PM | 22-10 (13-3) | Summit League | 1st | 101 |
Sunday | 11/3 | Fort Wayne* | Sapp Fieldhouse | 2 PM | 25-7 (12-4) | Summit League | 2nd | 56 |
Friday | 11/8 | South Dakota State* | Brookings, South Dakota | 7 PM | 16-13 (8-8) | Summit League | 5th | 166 |
Saturday | 11/9 | North Dakota State* | Fargo, North Dakota | 7 PM | 13-18 (8-8) | Summit League | 5th | 165 |
Friday | 11/15 | South Dakota* | Sapp Fieldhouse | 7 PM | 14-14 (8-8) | Summit League | 5th | 161 |
Sunday | 11/17 | Denver* | Sapp Fieldhouse | 2 PM | 17-13 (10-8) | WAC | 5th | 138 |
Oklahoma made the NCAA Tournament last year and defeated Arizona State 3-2 in the first round before falling 3-0 to 12-seed BYU in the 2nd round. LIU Brooklyn also made it but was knocked out 3-0 by seven-seed UCLA in the first round. Fort Wayne was the Summit League representative but lost 3-2 to 15-seed Iowa State in the first round. Tulsa made it out of Conference USA but was knocked out 3-0 by 14-seed Florida in the first round. Finally Miami (FL) also made the tournament but was knocked out 3-2 by Charleston in the first round.
Omaha plays twice in a day on five occasions this year, four Saturdays and one Friday. Overall they play on Friday 11 times, on Saturday 12 times, on Sunday four times, and once on Thursday. Omaha will host one Friday/Saturday tournament (one game Friday, two on Saturday) and in single game situations they will play three 7 PM Friday-2 PM Sunday home weekends and one Saturday only home weekend, with that game at 5 PM.
Omaha will play all of their non-conference games in August and September before opening Summit League play on September 28th. The only non-Summit schools to come to town this year are SIU Edwardsville, Southern Utah, and Bradley. None of the schools finished higher than 8th in their conference last year or finished with a winning record, though Bradley is probably the best get of the bunch.
Here’s a breakdown by RPI: Omaha was 254th last year.
0-50 – 3 – 1 away, 2 neutral
51-100 – 2 – 1 home, 1 away
101-150 – 6 – 2 home, 3 away, 1 neutral
151-200 – 7 – 3 home, 3 away, 1 neutral
201-250 – 5 – 3 home, 2 away
251-300 – 2 – 1 home, 1 neutral
301+ – 3 – 3 neutral
The Summit is a fairly competitive volleyball league with only Omaha and Western Illinois not finishing in the top 200 of the RPI last year. Omaha will be competitive in the first road tournament at Houston Baptist, should be able to win any of the home games in the Omaha Marriott Classic. They will be expected to win most of the games at the Southeastern Louisiana Tournament. The 2013 Nike Invitational will be a very tough weekend where Omaha plays four teams that all made the NCAA Tournament last year.
Omaha travels approximately 8,874 miles this year to get to their road games, very close to last years 8,300 miles.