Volleyball Announces Schedule For 2016 Campaign

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NEW ORLEANS – Eight home matches in the Human Performance Center and four showdowns against teams that made the NCAA Tournament a year ago highlight the 2016 University of New Orleans volleyball schedule, third-year head coach Millicent Van Norden announced Monday.

All eight of the Privateers' home contests are against Southland Conference opponents and admission to those matches is free. UNO will twice paly defending Southwestern Athletic Conference champion and NCAA Tournament participant Jackson State, facing the Tigers on a neutral court at the Jax State Invitational on Feb. 10 and a home match on Nov. 8, while also taking on 2015 postseason squads Colorado State on Feb. 16 during the Omni Invitational and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi in the HPC on Oct. 20.

UNO is coming off a 2015 season that saw the squad post the third-best turnaround in the nation in terms of wins and losses from the previous campaign and the Privateers are looking to take the next step this year. Last season New Orleans went 19-16 overall, finishing sixth in the regular-season SLC standings and qualifying for the conference tournament for the first time since joining the league prior to the 2013-14 school year.

"I believe what we did last season was prove to ourselves and everyone else that we could rise from the bottom of the conference to a true competitive force in the Southland," Van Norden said. "Our goal is not to mirror last season, but to contend for a championship and this schedule will prepare us to do just that. We have the depth and experience in most positions to have a chance at a title. Last season cannot be our focus now. We did what we needed to then. Sacrifice, intensity and maturity will be the keys to a successful season this year and that's what's important moving forward." 

Following the Silver & Blue Scrimmage on Friday, Aug. 19, the Privateers will play in four tournaments during the non-conference portion of the schedule with trips to Cape Girardeau, Missouri, for the Redhawks Drury Hotels Invitational from Aug. 26-27, Ft. Myers, Florida, for the FGCU Hilton Garden Inn Invitational from Sept. 2-3, Jacksonville, Alabama, for the Jax State Invitational from Sept. 9-10 and Boulder, Colorado, for the Omni Invitational from Sept. 16-17.

New Orleans will open the 2016 campaign against host Southeast Missouri State on Aug. 26 while also facing Louisiana Tech later that day and Illinois-Chicago on Aug. 27. From there, the Privateers will take on Delaware and Virginia Commonwealth on the opening day of the FGCU Invite before playing host Florida Gulf Coast in day two of the event. UNO next heads to Jax State Invitational where the Privateers will square off with Mississippi Valley State and host Jacksonville State on Sept. 9 before facing UAB and Jackson State on Sept. 10, and close out the pre-conference slate at the Omni Classic with Sept. 17 matches against host Colorado and Chicago State in addition to the showdown with Colorado State.

"Our pre-conference schedule puts our team to the test this season," Van Norden added. "This schedule is going to give us the opportunity to establish ourselves as a strong, competitive force in and out of conference play. I believe the RPIs of our non-conference opponents are the perfect match for the type of talent we need to face in order to be prepared for conference play."

The Privateers open the home portion of the 2016 slate on Thursday, Sept. 22, when UNO take on SLC foe Houston Baptist in the HPC. New Orleans will also host league opponents Lamar n Sept. 24, McNeese State on Oct. 4, Nicholls on Oct. 18, Incarnate Word on Oct. 22, Northwestern State on Nov. 1 and Southeastern Louisiana on Nov. 12 in addition to the home contest against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi.

UNO's home matches against Cowgirls, Colonels, Demons and Lions are part of a home-and-home series against Southland opponents as the Privateers will play at Southeastern Louisiana on Oct. 8, at Northwestern State on Oct. 13, at McNeese State on Oct. 27 and at Nicholls on Oct. 29. New Orleans will play its first SLC road match on Sept. 29 at Abilene Christian and will also travel to face Central Arkansas on Oct. 15, Stephen F. Austin on Nov. 3 and Sam Houston State on Nov. 5.

"I have always felt our conference is extremely competitive," Van Norden said. "We have strong opponents to face on their home courts and all of the programs have done a wonderful job bringing in top talent. We will continue to face one team at a time prepared and focused. No need to make predictions. Our efforts should speak for themselves once the season gets underway."

The Southland Conference Tournament is scheduled to run from Nov. 18-20 in Conway, Arkansas, on the home court of Central Arkansas, and the winner of the three-day event will earn the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.

The Privateers return eight letterwinners from the 2015 season, including honorable-mention All-SLC selection and 2015 Louisiana Freshman of the Year Blessing Dunn. Also back for the upcoming campaign are seniors KeKe Irby – who was named Louisiana Newcomer of the Year and honorable-mention all-state last season and Takierra Boughton, juniors Cara Sander and Rondolyn Bryant, and the sophomore trio of Kaitlyn Grice, Lane Hindenburg and  Samantha Uline

UNO will welcome the talents of incoming freshmen Christiana DuBose, Sophia Mitchell, Andrea Nava, Mikaila Paxton, Rhyan Rand, Sarah Thomas, Brianna Vega and Jordan Yauch, as well as sophomore transfer Devan Ingram.