TEMPE, Ariz.—The Arizona State volleyball team and Director of Volleyball Stevie Mussie announced the 2016 schedule on Monday, which features 13 conference matches televised on the Pac-12 Network.
The Sun Devils will play an unprecedented 22 of 32 scheduled matches away from the friendly confines of Wells Fargo Arena, with the 2016 home opener slated for Friday, Sept. 30 against Pac-12 Conference foe Oregon.
“Scheduling this season across the country was difficult for pretty much all teams and when teams don’t want to come here it forces us to get out of the friendly confines of Tempe, Arizona and make the road our home,” Mussie said.
With the entirety of the non-conference slate scheduled away from Tempe, ASU will open the season with 14 consecutive road matches, and will be on the road for 18 of the first 20 matches on the competition slate.
“Our kids understand the situation we are in and are embracing it with a great attitude,” Mussie said. “Things aren’t supposed to be easy and they understand that we are going to face adversity and if where we play the matches is the toughest thing we have to deal with then we will be ok. We also understand that if we are one of those 64 teams in the tournament there is a good chance that we will have to go on the road for that, and with this schedule we know no other school in the country will be able to say they are more prepared for that than we are.”
Nine teams on the schedule competed in the 2015 NCAA Tournament, including non-conference opponents Fairfield, Harvard, Santa Clara, and Pac-12 foes Arizona, Oregon, USC, UCLA, Stanford, and Washington.
“We’re going to have ten days of a gnarly preseason that’s going to encompass them beating and competing against each other every single day,” Mussie said. “Having the opportunity to go on the road and have no other distractions other than beating somebody on the other side of the net is really, really cool for this group of kids because of the type of people that they are. They’re going to welcome this challenge with open arms.”
ASU will open the 2016 campaign in Albuquerque, N.M., on Friday, Aug. 26 with matches against Fairfield and host New Mexico. On Saturday, Aug. 27, the Sun Devils will cap the weekend with their first-ever match against Abilene Christian.
“All of the teams in this tournament are very well coached and know how to compete,” Mussie said. “The great thing also about this tournament is that the schedule has been adapted nicely for us so we can get out of town Saturday early evening and get our kids back home to Tempe Saturday night.”
On Friday, Sept. 2, the Sun Devils will trek to Iowa City for the Iowa Invitational, featuring matches against Butler and the host Hawkeyes. ASU will cap the weekend against Oakland on Saturday, Sept. 3.
“Then we head out to Big Ten country, which obviously my staff and I are very familiar with,” Mussie said. “Bond Shymansky has done an unbelievable job in revamping that program. We’re going to play Butler, Iowa, and Oakland while we’re there, and having the opportunity to play a Big Ten team, no matter which team it is, is a great opportunity for our athletes.”
The Sun Devils will open third tournament, the LBSU/LMU Mizuno Invitational, on Friday, Sept. 9 against Pepperdine. On Saturday, Sept. 10, ASU will take on Harvard, followed by a match against tournament host Long Beach State.
“We head to Long Beach State, which is rich in volleyball history,” Mussie said. “They have been good for a long time and finished a close second in their conference last season. Honestly, the tournament as a whole is full or very high level teams who know what it takes to win. No one can overlook anyone at this event, Harvard has been good a long time in their conference and even no one can overlook the fact that they took a set off of Nebraska at Nebraska in the NCAA tournament.”
ASU will round out non-conference travel in Boise, Idaho, for the Boise State Classic on Sept. 16-17. The Sun Devils will have matches against Santa Clara and Portland State on Friday, and the non-conference finale against Boise State on Saturday.
“Lastly, we head to Boise State and we know this tournament is full of teams with a lot of mature rosters and should be a great experience for our group of kids,” Mussie said.
The Pac-12 slate will kick off on Wednesday, Sept. 21, with the Sun Devils trekking down I-10 to face off against conference rival Arizona in the 2016-17 Territorial Cup Series ® opener. The match will also mark ASU’s Pac-12 Network debut for the season. On Saturday, Sept. 24, the Sun Devils will close out the 14-match road swing at Utah.
“Having the opportunity to play Arizona on a Wednesday on the Pac-12 Network is huge,” Mussie said. “Dave Rubio has a great program down there and having the seen some of his athletes this past spring, they’re getting better every single day and I’m sure they’re grinding this summer to get better and will have a non-conference schedule that prepares them for the grind of the Pac-12 schedule. I’m new to the rivalry but I respect the passion and fire associated with this battle of the desert, and I look forward to it on the front and on the back end of our conference schedule.”
The Sun Devils’ first home weekend will feature matches against Oregon (Friday, Sept. 30; 6 p.m. PT) and Oregon State (Sunday, Oct. 2; 11 a.m. PT). Other home conference dates include Wednesday, Oct. 19 and Friday, Oct. 21 against Washington State and Washington, respectively.
“Oregon will be young, but they will be good,” Mussie said. “Having them be our first match at home will definitely be a challenge for our athletes, but our kids will be ready to compete on their home floor. Home is home, life is always a little better when you get to compete in front of our fans. Oregon State is a team that just keeps getting better every single year and will be a tough match for us to close out that first weekend at home.”
The Sun Devils will then face each of the four California schools in the third and fourth weeks of conference play, first at USC and UCLA on Oct. 5 and 7, respectively, and then at California and Stanford on back-to-back nights, Oct. 14 and 15, respectively.
“Every match in the Pac-12 is tough, so playing the California schools back to back is just part of the deal,” Mussie said. “No need to get overly jacked up, we just need to be focused on what we are doing on our side of the net and fight to outwork whoever we are playing that night.”
ASU will also host matches on back-to-back nights at Wells Fargo Arena against USC and UCLA on Nov. 4 and 5, and against Stanford and California on Nov. 18 and 19. The Sun Devils will play at home for eight of the final 12 matches of the regular season, capping the campaign against Colorado and Arizona on Wednesday, Nov. 23 and Saturday, Nov. 26, respectively.
Information about home matches that will be live streamed via TheSunDevils.com later this summer.
Complete 2016 Arizona State Home Schedule
Friday, Sept. 30 vs. Oregon – 6 p.m. PT (Pac-12 Network)
Sunday, Oct. 2 vs. Oregon State – 11 a.m. PT (Pac-12 Network)
Wednesday, Oct. 19 vs. Washington State – 7 p.m. PT (Pac-12 Network)
Friday, Oct. 21 vs. Washington – 8 p.m. PT (Pac-12 Network)
Friday, Nov. 4 vs. USC – 6 p.m. PT
Saturday, Nov. 5 vs. UCLA – TBA (Pac-12 Network)
Friday, Nov. 18 vs. Stanford – TBA (Pac-12 Network)
Saturday, Nov. 19 vs. California – 7 p.m. MT (Pac-12 Network)
Wednesday, Nov. 23 vs. Colorado – TBA (Pac-12 Network)
Saturday, Nov. 26 vs. Arizona – TBA (Pac-12 Arizona)