Coming off of an eighth consecutive 20-win season, Valparaiso volleyball head coach Carin Avery announced today the Crusaders’ schedule for the 2010 campaign.

The season begins on August 27 in Philadelphia, as the Crusaders will play in two separate gyms on the same day.  Valpo kicks off the 2010 slate against Virginia in the early afternoon on the campus of TempleUniversity.  The Crusaders then will pack up and travel a few miles to play in the La Salle Invitational, where they will face Hartford and 2009 MAAC champion Niagara in addition to the host Explorers.

The next weekend sees Valpo make the trek to Boone, N.C. to participate in Appalachian State’s tournament.  A mid-week battle at Indiana State occurs the next week before the Crusaders play their final pre-league tournament at the Bradley Invitational, where Presbyterian and Hofstra round out the tournament field.

Play at home at the ARC, where the Crusaders have won 84.3% (75-14) of the time over the last eight years, coincides with the start of the double round-robin Horizon League slate, as Wright State comes to town on September 17.  Non-league matchups interspersed throughout the league schedule include a home showdown against IUPUI and road meetings with Oakland, SIU Edwardsville, Chicago State and Western Michigan.

The home schedule concludes with matches against Green Bay and Milwaukee on October 29 and 30, respectively, while the regular season ends November 12 at Loyola.  The Horizon League Championships will be contested starting on November 19 on the campus of the regular-season champion, with the winner of the tournament earning the league’s automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.