WKU’s journey

toward a return to second straight NCAA Tournament won’t come easy.

  

<span style=

“font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;”>The 2011

volleyball schedule was released today and it features several

matchups with some of the nation’s top teams, including nine

participants of last year’s NCAA tournament.

The regular

season begins on August 26 with a game against Sacramento State in

Nashville as part of the two-day Belmont Invitational. They’ll play

Murray State on August 27 to conclude the invitational.

The schedule

includes 13 matches at Diddle Arena, beginning with a September 9

tournament at Diddle Arena where they’ll play Xavier, Wake Forest

and Louisiana State.

Last season WKU

received an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament where they were

ousted in the first round by Cincinnati. The Toppers have a rematch

with Cincinnati scheduled for October 18 at Cincinnati.

“Coming off an

NCAA tournament at-large bid in 2010, it makes us want to go out

and schedule aggressively again to give ourselves that opportunity

again if we play well,” Head Coach Travis Hudson said in a

statement. “I think we’ve certainly accomplished that. There is

very little breathing room in this schedule.”

WKU will

open its Sun Belt Conference schedule at home with a match against

Arkansas-Little Rock on September 23 and Arkansas State on

September 24.

The Lady

Toppers conclude their regular season with three consecutive road

matches against South Alabama on Nov. 4, at Troy on Nov. 5 and the

season finale at Middle Tennessee on Nov. 11.

The Sun Belt

Conference Tournament will take place in Miami November

17-19.