SAN ANTONIO – The UTSA volleyball team has released a 26-match schedule for the 2020 season, it was announced by head coach Laura Groff on Friday.
The Roadrunners will host nine games at the Convocation Center, play in three non-conference tournaments and face a 13-game Conference USA schedule.
UTSA will open its 2020 season with the annual UTSA Classic, hosted at the Convocation Center from Aug. 28-29. The Roadrunners will welcome TCU, Texas State and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi for the event.
The Roadrunners then hit the road for three consecutive weekends at in-state, non-conference tournaments. UTSA will participate in the SMU Classic, hosted in Dallas, from Sept. 4-5, facing Texas Tech in the opener, SMU late in the day and Central Arkansas on Saturday to conclude its stay in the event.
The following weekend, UTSA will venture to Abilene, Texas for the Abilene Christian Invite. UTSA will face ACU on Thursday, Sept. 10, Grand Canyon on Friday, Sept. 11 and will face Texas Southern on Saturday, Sept. 12.
UTSA hits the road for Huntsville and the Sam Houston State Tournament, slated for Sept. 18-19.
After a non-league test at crosstown foe UIW on Sept. 22 at 6:30 p.m., the Roadrunners will lift the lid on the C-USA scheduled on Sept. 27 at UTEP.
The Roadrunners return to the Convocation Center for its league home opener on Oct. 2, hosting Rice at 6 p.m. before welcoming North Texas at 1 p.m.
UTSA travels to face Middle Tennessee (Sept. 9) and UAB (Sept. 11) before hosting Charlotte (Oct. 16) and Old Dominion (Oct. 18) at the Convocation Center.
UTSA will travel to Western Kentucky on Oct. 23 and Marshall on Oct. 25, before hosting FIU on Oct. 30 and Florida Atlantic on Nov. 1. The Roadrunners will then conclude their road, regular-season slate at Southern Miss (Nov. 6) and LA Tech (Nov. 8).
The Conference USA Volleyball Championships are set for Nov. 21 at the top seed from the regular season. The championships will feature the top four teams in the standings in a one-day event.
The Roadrunners return several key contributors from the 2019 season, including juniors Mia Perales, Skyeler Embry, Kirby Smith, Hannah Lopez and Mia Ybarra. UTSA had strong contributions from its freshman last year, including Bianca Ejesieme, Courtney Walters and Hunter Coppola. The Roadrunners will add freshman Kelsey Carpenter, Amanda Ifeanyi, Maddie Thayer and Alicia Coppedge to the roster for 2020. UTSA has also added a pair of upper-class transfers in Southeastern Louisiana libero/defensive specialist Alexis Pratt and Davidson middle blocker Alison Jennings, and a sophomore middle blocker transfer from Texas Tech, Jessica Langridge.
UTSA is under the direction of 19th year head coach Laura Neugebauer-Groff, the program's winningest coach and a San Antonio Sports Hall of Famer. She's joined on the staff by Jeff Fiorenza, who shined as a young up-and-coming coaching mind for the last two seasons under Kentucky head coach Craig Skinner, where the Wildcats won two Southeastern Conference Championships.
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