Volleyball Announces 2015 Schedule

Schedule features 12 home games under first year head coach Kelly Richardson

MACOMB, Ill. - Western Illinois volleyball head coach Kelly Richardson announced the 2015 schedule on Wednesday, July 8. The schedule features 12 home contests, 13 away matches, and six neutral site matches for the Leathernecks under the first year head coach.

"We are so excited to get the upcoming season started," said Richardson. "It will be great to kick things off with our home tournament, featuring a tough field. We have built a challenging nonconference schedule that features Kansas, Duke, and Kansas City, and these matches will help our young team grow and learn how to compete with each other. This should put us in a good position as we move into league play, as The Summit League is always a tough league. We look forward to the opportunity ahead of us this year."

The Purple and Gold open the 2015 season with the 2015 Hampton Inn Leatherneck Invitational, a two-day tournament that begins on Friday, August 28. Western will begin the invitational with a Friday night contest against Akron before closing out play on Saturday with matches against Drake and DePaul.

WIU then hits the road for a pair of tournaments the following two weekends. Sept. 4-5 features the Kansas Invitational before he Leathernecks travel to Evansville, Indiana, on Sept. 11-12 for the Evansville Tournament.

Western opens the Kansas Invitational on Friday (Sept. 4) morning against the host Jayhawks and before facing Kansas City later that evening. The team finishes competition in Lawrence, Kansas with a Saturday morning match against Duke.

Northern Kentucky is Western's first opponent in Evansville, with a Friday afternoon (Sept. 11) start slated between the two programs. The Leathernecks conclude action on Saturday with matches against Evansville and Jackson State.

Western has a quick turnaround following the Evansville tournament as the team travels to Des Moines on Tuesday, Sept. 15, to take on Drake for the second time this season.

Following the Drake contest, Western closes out tournament play at the Indiana State Tournament scheduled for Sept. 18-19. Tournament hosts Indiana State are on the schedule first for WIU, with first serve set for Friday evening (Sept. 18). The final day of competition features matches against Chicago State and Valparaiso.

Summit League action starts on Sept. 25 with a road contest at South Dakota. The away contest is one of eight away league matches as Western will also hit the road to face North Dakota State (Sept. 26), Oral Roberts (Oct. 18), IUPUI (Oct. 23), Denver (Oct. 30), Omaha (Nov. 1), Fort Wayne (Nov. 10) and South Dakota State (Nov. 14).

Western's home Summit League schedule will include matches against Fort Wayne (Oct. 2), IUPUI (Oct. 4), Denver (Oct. 9), South Dakota State (Oct. 16), Omaha (Oct. 20), North Dakota State (Oct. 25), and South Dakota (Nov. 6). WIU closes out the home portion of the schedule with Senior Day on Sunday, November 8, as Oral Roberts comes to town. The team's two seniors, Peyton Crosser and Jordan Jackson will be honored at the match.

During league play, Western will also play in two mid-week nonconference matches. The Purple and Gold will host Southeast Missouri State (Oct. 6) and hit the road to take on UIC (Oct. 13).

The complete schedule, with start times, can be found HERE.

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Players Mentioned

#11 Peyton Crosser: OH; 6' 2"; Senior; Ottumwa / Indian Hills CC

#15 Jordan Jackson: M; 6' 0"; Senior; Annawan

Players Mentioned

#11 Peyton Crosser
: 6' 2"; Senior; Ottumwa / Indian Hills CC
: OH

#15 Jordan Jackson
: 6' 0"; Senior; Annawan
: M

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Players Mentioned

#11 Peyton Crosser

#15 Jordan Jackson

Players Mentioned

#11 Peyton Crosser

#15 Jordan Jackson