Wichita State volleyball releases 2023 season schedule, highlighted by AAC play changes
With a shake-up to the American Athletic Conference this summer, changes are coming to the Wichita State volleyball team schedule for the 2023 season.
Cincinnati, Houston and UCF have departed for the Big 12, while Charlotte, Florida Atlantic, North Texas, Rice, UAB and UTSA have joined the conference. For volleyball conference play, the American is switching back to divisions again.
WSU will compete in the West division along with North Texas, Rice, SMU, Tulane, Tulsa and UTSA. Teams play opponents in their own division back-to-back matches on Fridays and Saturdays, while playing single matches against opponents from the other division on Fridays and Sundays.
The Shockers announced their complete 2023 season schedule on Wednesday, including 12 home matches and the return of the Shocker Volleyball Classic to Koch Arena. WSU will play Oklahoma on August 17 in an exhibition match at Koch Arena, then open the regular season at the Under Armour Challenge in Lubbock, Texas against Notre Dame, Texas Tech and Houston Christian on August 25-26.
The Shockers also compete in the Illinois tournament (Sept. 1-2) and Northern Colorado Classic (Sept. 14-16), while two home matches against Kansas (Sept. 7) and Colorado (Sept. 9) for the Shocker Volleyball Classic represent the lone home matches in non-conference play. It is just the second time WSU has hosted KU since the 2002 season.
WSU hosts North Texas, Tulsa and UTSA in division play with road trips to Rice, SMU and Tulane. Singular matches against Charlotte, Temple, South Florida and UAB will be at Koch Arena, while WSU will travel to East Carolina, Florida Atlantic and Memphis.
WSU head coach Chris Lamb is entering his 24th season and needs 18 more wins to reach 500 career victories. Coming off an 18-13 season and their first postseason appearance since 2018, the Shockers figure to once again be a contender with three all-conference hitters returning in Brylee Kelly, Natalie Foster and Sophia Rohling.
This story was originally published July 5, 2023 at 1:43 PM.
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