BATON ROUGE – With less than five weeks until the opening match of the season, LSU volleyball head coach Fran Flory released the 2017 schedule, which features 10 matches inside the Pete Maravich Assembly Center.
Flory, who enters her 20th season as the head coach of the Tigers, is set to coach a squad with 13 returning players and one of the top freshman classes in the country. Taylor Bannister leads the way for the freshmen as the No. 13 Senior Ace and Fab 50 recruit.
“Our team is excited about the challenges of the 2017 schedule,” Flory said. “We have a great mix of teams, who will all challenge us in different ways. The pre-conference schedule will prepare us well for our SEC opponents.”
Tigers will open the season with 10-straight matches on the road. LSU opens its schedule at the University of South Florida Invitational Aug. 25-26 where it will take on Arkansas Pine Bluff, Northwestern and the Bulls.
The squad will then travel to the Dog Pound Challenge hosted by the University of Connecticut Sept. 1-2. LSU will face Hartford and Connecticut in a double header on Friday and return to take on Iona on Saturday.
The final stretch of non-conference road matches will take place in North Carolina Sept. 8-10. LSU will face High Point at the Millis Center on Friday, LIU Brooklyn at UNC’s Carmichael Arena on Saturday and the Tar Heels on their home court Sunday. The final match of the road swing will take place on Wednesday, Sept. 13, at Baylor.
The Tigers’ home opener will be the final non-conference meet of the season against Houston on Saturday, Sept. 16. Southeastern Conference play will begin on Friday, Sept. 22 when Texas A&M comes to Baton Rouge.
The squad will have a quick turnaround with its first SEC road match of the season against Kentucky on Sunday, Sept. 24. The following week, LSU will travel to South Carolina and Florida on Friday, Sept. 29, and Sunday, Oct. 1.
The remainder of October features six of seven SEC matches at home. LSU will face off against Mississippi State and Arkansas before traveling to Auburn the following week. The Tigers will close out the month with matches against Alabama, Ole Miss, Kentucky and Tennessee.
LSU will be on the road during the majority of November with just two home matches at home and five away from the PMAC. The team will face Arkansas and Missouri the same weekend then travel to Mississippi State the following Friday. Auburn will travel to Baton Rouge on Wednesday, Nov. 15. The final three matches of the season will be Sunday, Nov. 19 at Alabama, Wednesday, Nov. 22 for senior tribute against Georgia, and Friday, Nov. 24 on the road at Tennessee.
Every LSU volleyball home game is free and open to the general public, where fans will be able to pick up team posters, schedule cards and other promotional items during the match. Updated times and television announcement for the season will be available soon at LSUsports.net/volleyball.
For all of the latest news and information on Tiger volleyball, visit www.lsusports.net/volleyball. Fans can also follow the program on its social media outlets at www.Facebook.com/lsuvolleyball along with @lsuvolleyball and @lsucoachfran on Twitter and @lsuvolleyball on Instagram.