Just five short months after the conclusion of the spring 2021 campaign, the Valpo volleyball team is gearing up to return to action this fall as it announced its schedule for the upcoming season today.

The Beacons will step back on the court Aug. 20 at Western Michigan for an exhibition match before opening the regular season with four consecutive pre-conference tournaments. Valpo will face a trio of tough tests in the season-opening Panther Invitational Aug. 28-29, opening with UC Santa Barbara — which won 23 matches and advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament in 2019 in its last season of action. The Beacons then face Big Ten foe Illinois before closing the tournament with host and perennial Horizon League power Milwaukee.

From there, Valpo heads to Cookeville, Tenn. Sept. 3-4 for the Golden Eagle Invitational, facing UNC Asheville and South Alabama in addition to host Tennessee Tech. The next weekend brings matches against Youngstown State, South Dakota State and Toledo at Toledo’s Blue & Gold Tournament. Valpo’s final pre-conference action comes Sept. 17 versus Western Illinois and SIUE at the SIUE Cougar Classic.

The Missouri Valley Conference schedule opens up Sept. 24 at Southern Illinois. The MVC slate returns to normal this year, a double round-robin schedule with travel partners. Valpo’s home opener comes on the Friday of Homecoming weekend, Oct. 1 versus Indiana State. The regular season home finale is Nov. 13 against Bradley, while the regular season wraps one week later at Drake. The MVC Tournament will be held Nov. 25-27 in Normal, Ill., with the tournament champion earning the conference’s automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.

Valpo will return an experienced squad for the fall 2021 campaign, as 10 letterwinners from last year's team — which posted an 11-9 overall record and finished in fifth place in the MVC standings — are back. The 10 returnees accounted for 75% of the team's kills, 90% of aces, 82% of digs and 86% of blocks last season.