Huskers Announce 2016 Schedule

The national champion Nebraska volleyball team will play 15 regular-season home matches as part of its 2016 schedule announced on Wednesday. 

The Huskers, coming off a 3-0 sweep of Texas to win the 2015 national title at the CenturyLink Center in Omaha, will play 17 of their 29 regular-season matches against 2015 NCAA tournament teams, including 12 matches against Sweet 16 teams. The Huskers' 17 matches against NCAA Tournament teams is the most since they faced 19 in 2011. Of the five other Big Ten teams that reached the Sweet 16 last year, the Huskers will play four of them twice.

Beginning this year, the four NCAA tournament regionals will be played at the sites of the highest remaining seed in each quadrant. Therefore, the top-four national seeds determined by the NCAA selection committee are guaranteed the option to host a regional in 2016 should they advance past the second round. The NCAA has used predetermined regional sites since 2003. 

Nebraska will begin the season unofficially with the Red/White Scrimmage on Aug. 20 at 6 p.m. at the Devaney Center. Tickets will go on sale in the summer.

Nebraska begins the regular season on the road for the first time since 2013, as NU travels to Eugene, Ore., for the VERT Challenge on Aug. 26-27. The tournament schedule has not been officially set, but the Huskers will have a national title rematch against Texas on one of the days and will play Florida for the first time since 2010 on the other. In 2017 the tournament will be at Florida, and in 2018 it will come to Nebraska.

On Sept. 2-3, the Huskers will host Iowa State and Oregon State in the Nebraska Invite, and Nebraska will travel to Albuquerque, N.M., for the Lobo Classic on Sept. 9-10 with Arkansas and New Mexico as the opponents, dates to be determined. The Huskers played in the Lobo Classic in 2011, beating New Mexico State and New Mexico.

The non-conference schedule concludes with the Ameritas Players Challenge at the Devaney Center. Nebraska will play Montana State at Noon and Gonzaga at 7:30 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 16. The following day, the Huskers host Creighton at 8 p.m.

Nebraska begins the Big Ten schedule with three straight road matches – at Michigan, Michigan State and Illinois – to close out September.

The Big Ten home schedule begins with Ohio State on Oct. 1, followed with home matches against Indiana (Oct. 7) and Purdue (Oct. 9). That weekend begins a stretch of five straight Friday-Saturday weekends.

After a trip to Ohio State and Maryland on Oct. 14-16, the Huskers will host Wisconsin on Oct. 21 and Minnesota on Oct. 23, a weekend that accounted for the final two losses of the Huskers’ season in 2015 before a 16-match win streak to end the season. On Oct. 28-29, Nebraska will host Illinois and Northwestern, and the Huskers visit Penn State and Rutgers on Nov. 4-5.

The final three weeks of the regular season will be Wednesday and Saturday matches. On Nov. 9 NU hosts Iowa before traveling to Indiana on Nov. 12. Penn State comes to the Devaney Center on Nov. 16 and Iowa awaits the Huskers on Nov. 19 in Iowa City. On Nov. 23, the night before Thanksgiving, the Huskers play at Minnesota. Nebraska hosts Michigan on Nov. 26 in the regular-season finale.

The NCAA first and second rounds will be hosted at campus sites Dec. 1-3. Nebraska has hosted 12 straight years. After regionals are played at the home sites of the highest remaining seeds in each section of the bracket, the NCAA Championship will be played Dec. 15-17 at Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio.

All match times and TV information will be announced at a later date.

**Please check Huskers.com for match times throughout the season, as they are subject to change based on selection for television.**