MOBILE, Ala. – The University of South Alabama volleyball team will compete in four non-conference tournament, including one in Jag Gym, while also taking on a pair of conference foes who reached the NCAA tournament a year ago in its 2016 schedule announced by Jaguar head coach Amy Hendrichovsky.
In addition to its three matches at the Jaguar Invitational, USA will also welcome eight other opponents to Mobile throughout the season.
The schedule is also highlighted by six opponents, including three league members, who won 20-plus matches throughout the 2015 campaign. Non-conference foes Southern Mississippi (20), Marist (21) and Florida Gulf Coast (21) all reached the 20-win plateau, while SBC members Arkansas State (28), Coastal Carolina (25) and Appalachian State (22) also achieved the mark. Texas State and Texas-Arlington just missed the 20-win mark as they each finished with 19 wins a season ago.
"In our non-conference schedule, we will have challenging matches each of the four weekends," said Hendrichovsky. "Our schedule this season is highlighted by matches against Indiana and Georgia, but we will also face some quality mid-major opponents, such as Samford, Florida Gulf Coast, Southern Miss and FIU.
At this level, it's important we prepare the same no matter who is across the net. Our focus will be on bringing our best effort to every match. I believe this schedule gives us opportunities to grow and it will challenge us. I hope to have a successful preseason which will help us prepare to play every night against the competitive teams in the Sun Belt."
ASU won both the regular-season title and the conference tournament to advance in the postseason, while the Chanticleers, who will join the Sun Belt in July, also won both the regular-season and tournament title to earn a postseason berth for the second-straight year.
The Jaguars open up the 2015 campaign in Birmingham, Ala., when they take on Indiana State and Nicholls State on Aug. 26 at a tournament hosted by Samford. The Sycamores are coming off the program's first back-to-back winning seasons since '81-82. USA will take on the host Bulldogs on the following day.
South Alabama will then return home to open September with Jaguar Invitational. USA will face Southeastern Louisiana and former SBC member Florida International on Sept. 2 and then close out tournament action against Florida A&M (Sept. 3). The Jags will then host regional foe Southern Miss in a mid-week match three days later before returning to the road.
USA will stay on the road the next two weekends and wrap up the non-conference portion of its schedule, competing at the FGCU Homewood Suites Classic (Sept. 9-10) hosted by Florida Gulf Coast University and at the Bulldog Invitational (Sept. 16) hosted by the University of Georgia.
South Alabama will take on Marist and FGCU on Sept. 9 and then face Indiana on Sept. 10. The match up versus the Hoosiers will be the first against a Big 10 member for the Jags since the 2012 season and the first in the series against IU since 1995. The following weekend, USA will travel to Athens, Ga., where it will open up its final tournament against McNeese State on Sept. 16. The Jaguars will then close out play at the Bulldog Invitational against Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference member Bethune-Cookman and Southeastern Conference member Georgia. Bethune-Cookman went undefeated in conference play last season and advanced to the championship match of the MEAC tournament.
The Jags return home to open up Sun Belt play against Texas-Arlington (Sept. 23) and Texas State (Sept. 25). USA will then travel to Georgia Southern (Sept. 30) and Georgia State (Oct. 1).
During the rest of October, South Alabama will have home matches versus Troy (Oct. 8), Georgia State (Oct. 14), Georgia Southern (15), Coastal Carolina (Oct. 28) and Appalachian State (Oct. 30). USA will also have road matches during the month against Arkansas State (Oct. 21), Little Rock (Oct. 22) and Troy (Oct. 25).
USA will close out the regular season and the month of November on the road as the Jaguars travel to Louisiana-Monroe (Nov. 4), Louisiana-Lafayette (Nov. 6), Appalachian State (Nov. 11) and Coastal Carolina (Nov. 13).
This year's Sun Belt Conference tournament is scheduled to be held Nov. 18-20 at the College Park Center on the Texas-Arlington campus.
For more information about South Alabama athletics, check back with www.usajaguars.com, and follow the Jaguars at www.twitter.com/USAJaguarSports. Season tickets for all Jaguar athletic events can be purchased by calling (251) 461-1USA (1872).
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