CHICAGO, Ill. – The Illinois Institute of Technology women's volleyball team has released its 2016 schedule. It features 11 home matches and a two-day Scarlet Hawk Invite at the Keating Sports Center on September 30 and October 1.
"Our schedule presents a lot of exciting and challenging match-ups," said Head Coach Katie Zulandt. "We have a young team coming in this Fall that will play some tough competition early on in the season. My hope is that we will learn how to grind through tough matches so that we are stronger and more resilient as the season progresses."
The season begins with eight straight matches away from home. Tech will open the year with four matches at Beloit College's Buc Blast Tourney on September 2 and 3, an event where the Scarlet Hawks went 4-0 last season. The Scarlet Hawks will oppose North Central (Minn.), Blackburn, Beloit, and UW-Marathon County over the two days.
Tech will play three more matches in two days on September 9 and 10. The Scarlet Hawks will travel to nearby University of Chicago to face one of Division III's strongest programs on the 9th before heading to Wisconsin Lutheran in Milwaukee to face the host Warriors and Lakeland College on the 10th. Four days later, the Scarlet Hawks will play at nearby North Park for a weeknight match on September 14.
The 2016 home schedule opens with a match against Moody Bible on Friday, September 16 at 7:00 p.m. in the Keating Sports Center. Just 16 hours later, the Scarlet Hawks will host Rockford University and St. Mary's (Ind.) in a Homecoming tri-match. Tech is scheduled to oppose Rockford at 11:00 a.m. and St. Mary's at 3:00 p.m. on Saturday, September 17. On Friday, September 23, Tech hosts Lake Forest College at 7:30 p.m. for its fourth straight home match.
After a tri-match at North Central on September 24 which features Tech, Ripon, and the host Cardinals, the Scarlet Hawks will host the Scarlet Hawk Invite on September 30 and October 1. Olivet College, Principia College, UC-Clermont, and Eureka College will join the Hawks in the five-team tournament.
The Scarlet Hawks will compete in a similar tournament on the road the next weekend, as they'll compete against United States Collegiate Athletic Association schools Saint Mary of the Woods, Rochester, Berea, and Wright State (Lake) in Saint Mary of the Woods, Indiana on October 7 and 8.
Tech will then play three of the next four matches at home, hosting Wooster (October 11, 5:00 p.m.) before the October 22 Senior Day tri-match against Great Lakes Christian (1:00 p.m.) and Manchester (5:00 p.m.). A road match at Moody Bible on October 19 is slated in between the Wooster match and tr-match.
To wrap-up the regular season, the Scarlet Hawks will travel to nearby Concordia-Chicago on Tuesday, October 25 before a tri-match at Maranatha Baptist on October 28 with MBU and Finlandia. The USCAA Tournament is scheduled to be held during the USCAA's Fall Championship Week in Virginia Beach from November 10-15. Ten USCAA programs are selected to compete in the tournament.
Live stats will be provided for all home matches, while live audio and video will be available for most home matches. All live audio broadcasts will be powered by Illinois Center for Broadcasting. Illinois Tech Women's Volleyball finished with a 13-19 record in 2015.