University of Albany Volleyball Releases 2016 Schedule - UAlbany Sports 2016

2016 UAlbany Volleyball Schedule ALBANY, N.Y. – UAlbany volleyball head coach MJ Engstrom has released the team’s 2016 schedule, including four in-season tournaments and a full conference slate. The Great Danes have 24 matches scheduled in its regular season, starting with four in-season tournaments across four different states. Those are followed by a 12-match America East schedule, including six home matches at the University Gym. “We are very excited about this year’s schedule,” said Engstrom. “We have a good mix of play throughout the country to push ourselves before we enter America East play.” UAlbany was a 2015 America East regular season co-champion and had its best season overall and in league play since 2011. Going 17-9 overall and 11-1 in league play, UAlbany was the co-champion of the Golden Flashes Classic and the Colgate Classic and shared the America East regular season title with New Hampshire, falling to the Wildcats in the conference title match. All home matches for UAlbany volleyball are free to attend for the public. In addition, all America East matches, home and road, will be broadcast online for free on AmericaEast.tv. UAlbany will begin its season in the Pacific Time Zone in Las Vegas to compete on the campus of UNLV. The Great Danes take on reigning WAC champion New Mexico State at 3 p.m. ET on Friday, August 26th, following with host UNLV at 10 p.m. ET that night. The next day, UAlbany takes on UC Santa Barbara at 2:30 p.m. ET. The following weekend, the Great Danes bus east to New Haven, Connecticut to play in the Yale Invitational. UAlbany takes on tournament host Yale on Friday, September 2nd at 7 p.m. then plays a pair of matches on Saturday, September 3rd, battling Rutgers at 12:30 p.m. and Iona at 4:30 p.m. UAlbany will go wheels up to Chicago next weekend to play at DePaul University. The team begins the tournament against Illinois-Chicago on Friday, September 9th at 5:30 p.m. ET then follows with two Saturday matches, playing tournament host DePaul at 1 p.m. ET and South Florida at 5:30 p.m. ET. The Great Danes play one final in-season tournament in the West Point Invitational. UAlbany suits up against UConn and St. John’s on Friday, September 16th at 11 a.m. and 3 p.m. respectively, then against tournament host Army West Point on Saturday, September 17th at 5 p.m. UAlbany begins America East play on the road against in-state rival Binghamton on Friday, September 23rd at 7 p.m. in Vestal. The next weekend, UAlbany has its first home matches. The team has its home opener on Friday, September 30th at 7 p.m. against UMass Lowell, followed by Hartford on Sunday, October 2nd at 2 p.m. Back on the road goes UAlbany for a pair of matches, taking on UMBC in Baltimore on Friday, October 7th at 7 p.m. then Stony Brook on Long Island on Sunday, October 9th at 1 p.m. UAlbany wraps up the first half of America East play with a rematch against New Hampshire at home on Sunday, October 16th at 2 p.m. UAlbany remains home for its annual Dig Pink Match on Friday, October 21st, taking on Binghamton at 7 p.m. Two road matches follow in the next weekend as the Great Danes take on Hartford on Friday, October 28th at 7 p.m. and UMass Lowell on Sunday, October 30th at 1 p.m. The Purple and Gold play the final two home regular season matches in the next weekend, hosting rival Stony Brook for Senior Night on Friday, November 4th at 7 p.m. and proceeding with UMBC on Sunday, November 6th at 2 p.m. The regular season finishes against New Hampshire on Friday, November 11th at 7 p.m. in Durham in a rematch of the 2014 and 2015 America East championships. The America East Tournament will be hosted by the league’s regular season champion, with the top four teams competing. The America East semifinal round will be either on Friday, November 18th or Saturday, November 19th with the title match being the day after the semifinals.