EVANSVILLE, Ind. – First-year University of Evansville head volleyball coach Manolo Concepcion has announced the schedule for the 2013 season.
 
Included in that schedule will be three tournaments, an 18-match Missouri Valley Conference slate and five matches versus schools who made the NCAA Tournament in 2012.
 
"The Missouri Valley presents a battle every game day, having solid teams from top to bottom," Concepcion said.  "So, this year's Pre-Season tournaments and Mid-Week matches are designed to test our ability to face quality teams, with the mindset of long-term development towards reaching two peaks in four months."
 
On August 30, the season gets underway with a trip to the North Carolina Central Tournament where the Purple Aces open up with their first of two matches against Murray State.  In 2012, UE swept past the Racers in a meeting at the Carson Center.  The squads will meet in Murray, Ky. for a non-conference contest on September 10.
 
Evansville wraps up the tournament against Hampton and host North Carolina Central on the following day.  A trip to Martin, Tenn. to face UT-Martin awaits the Aces on September 3^rd before they make the trek to Oxford, Ohio for the Miami Tournament.  The final slate for that weekend will be posted as soon as it is finalized.
 
After a midweek game at Murray, Evansville will open the home portion of its schedule by hosting a home tournament following a 2-year layoff.  SIU Edwardsville opens it up against UE on Friday, Sept. 13 at 7:30 p.m. while matches will be played the following day against Memphis and Valparaiso.  The final non-conference tilt is set to be against defending Ohio Valley Conference champion Belmont in Nashville on Sept. 17.  The Bruins posted an 18-15 record in 2012 on their way to the NCAA appearance.  UE did enjoy success against Belmont last season, hanging on for a 3-2 win in Evansville last year.
 
Missouri Valley Conference play commences on Sept. 20 and 21 with road contests at Illinois State and Indiana State.  The Valley is coming off of a stellar campaign that saw three of its ten squads advance to the NCAA Tournament.  Wichita State went 24-10 overall en route to its first Sweet 16 appearance while UNI went 25-9 on its way to the big dance and Creighton received the automatic berth.
 
Bradley and new conference member Loyola open up the home conference schedule on Sept. 27 and 28 while the other home league matches include Northern Iowa (10/11), Drake (10/12), Southern Illinois (10/18 or 10/19), Wichita State (11/1), Missouri State (11/2), Indiana State (11/22) and Senior Night versus Illinois State on Saturday, November 23.
 
"The most important opponent will be ourselves; we need to learn how to win again. In order to achieve such goal, our character, work ethic, and passion for competing has to remain consistent with the ultimate objective: maximize the potential that we have as a team," Concepcion continued.
"There will be a lot more focus on the process. The small details will determine our long term results, meaning that expectations will be as high as our willingness to improve and determination to push ourselves harder than ever before."
 
The full slate of matches in the Miami Tournament will be added to the schedule when the final participating squads are finalized.