EVANSTON, Ill. (July 19, 2023) – Following the release of the Wildcats’ Big Ten Conference schedule in June, Northwestern head volleyball coach Shane Davis announced the program’s non-conference slate on Wednesday. The ‘Cats are slated to take on five teams that qualified for last season’s NCAA Tournament before beginning conference play.
“Very excited about the non-conference schedule that we’ve put together”, Davis commented. “We’ll face a challenging mix of national and regional powers, including five NCAA Tournament participants from a year ago. Being exposed to different systems and styles of play will prepare us well for another challenging Big Ten season.”
After hosting Marquette in an exhibition match on August 16, Northwestern will raise the curtain on the 2023 campaign when it heads to Honolulu, Hawaii for the Hawaiian Airlines Rainbow Wahine Classic, August 25-27. During their stay island of Oahu, the ‘Cats will battle host Hawaii, Oregon, and 2022 NCAA National Semifinalist San Diego.
Davis’ group opens Labor Day weekend with its first of three home non-conference matchups on September 1 when traditional Missouri Valley Conference powerhouse Illinois State visits Welsh-Ryan Arena. A short trip north to take on Milwaukee follows three days later (Sept. 4).
Northwestern lifts the lid on a three-match road swing to the East Coast with two matches as part of the Northeastern Tournament in Boston, Mass., taking on Northern Colorado (Sept. 8) and Northeastern (Sept. 9). The Wildcats close out the road portion of their non-conference slate on September 10 by trekking to Fairfield, Conn. to battle Fairfield.
The run-up to Big Ten Conference play sees the ‘Cats return to Welsh-Ryan Arena for a pair of tilts. Local rival UIC will make its way north from the West Side on September 13, before reigning Ivy League regular season and tournament champion Yale (Sept. 15) provides the opposition in the non-conference finale.
Northwestern’s complete 2023 schedule follows.
2023 Northwestern Volleyball Schedule
Aug. 16 – Marquette #
Aug. 25 – at Hawaii ^
Aug. 26 – vs. Oregon ^
Aug. 27 – vs. San Diego ^
Sept. 1 – Illinois State
Sept. 4 – at Milwaukee
Sept. 8 – vs. Northern Colorado $
Sept. 9 – at Northeastern $
Sept. 10 – at Fairfield
Sept. 13 – UIC
Sept. 15…
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at Northwestern Athletics…