The UMSL women’s volleyball team won its first regional championship and advanced to the NCAA Final Four last season. (Photo: Thomas Grove)
Paige Dale
Staff Writer
ST. LOUIS, MO — The University of Missouri-St. Louis athletics department released its 2023 women’s volleyball schedule on Friday morning.
The Tritons, who are coming off perhaps the most successful season in program history, will begin the year on September 1 at the Ray Thrasher Classic in Nashville, Tenn.
Last year, UMSL finished the year with a 25-7 record and won a share of the Great Lakes Valley Conference regular season championship after going 11-1 in league play.
But that was just the beginning, as the Tritons smashed their way through the NCAA Tournament and won the Midwest Regional title — for the first time in program history — before advancing all the way to the NCAA Tournament Final Four.
Overall, UMSL will play 28 regular season matches in 2023, which will include three early-season tournaments and the Midwest Region Crossover in October.
Of those 28 matches, seven will be home contests at the Mark Twain Building. The first of which will come on September 22, when UMSL will begin GLVC play with a match against William Jewell.
UMSL’s other home matches in 2023 will be September 23 (vs. Rockhurst), September 30 (vs. McKendree), October 21 (vs. Missouri S&T), October 22 (vs. Maryville), November 3 (vs. Illinois-Springfield), and November (vs. fellow defending GLVC champ Quincy).
The GLVC Tournament will be November 17-19, at the Eastside Centre in East Peoria, Ill. If UMSL qualifies for the NCAA Tournament this season, the Midwest Regional will be played November 30-December 2, with the national championships set for the following weekend (December 7-9) in Moon Township, Pa.
The Tritons will be once again led by head coach Ryan Young, who is entering his 14th season running the UMSL volleyball program.
In 13 previous seasons, Young has a record of 255-137 and has twice been named GLVC Coach of the Year (2019 and 2022). His teams have had winning seasons in 10 of the previous 13 years, including the 2019 team which went 29-5.
UMSL will bring back four starters from last year’s team and have added four freshman newcomers and three top notch transfers in hopes of returning the GLVC and NCAA Tournaments again this season.
2023 UMSL Tritons Women's Volleyball Schedule Date Time At Opponent Location Sep 1 (Fri) 1 p.m. Away Trevecca Nazarene Nashville, Tenn. Sep 1 (Fri) 5 p.m. Neutral Lynn Nashville, Tenn. Sep 2 (Sat) 9 a.m. Neutral Carson-Newman Nashville, Tenn. Sep 2 (Sat) 1 p.m. Neutral Alabama Huntsville Nashville, Tenn. Sep 8 (Fri) 3 p.m. Neutral Embry-Riddle St. Augustine, Fla. Sep 8 (Fri) 7 p.m. Away Flagler St. Augustine, Fla. Sep 9 (Sat) 11 a.m. Neutral Converse St. Augustine, Fla. Sep 9 (Sat) 5 p.m. Neutral Missouri Southern St. Augustine, Fla. Sep 15 (Fri) 11:30 a.m. Neutral Harding Lebanon, Ill. Sep 15 (Fri) 4:30 p.m. Neutral Maryville Lebanon, Ill. Sep 16 (Sat) 11:30 a.m. Neutral Illinois Springfield Lebanon, Ill. Sep 16 (Sat) 4:30 p.m. Away McKendree Lebanon, Ill. Sep 22 (Fri) 6 p.m. Home William Jewell St. Louis, Mo. Sep 23 (Sat) 3 p.m. Home Rockhurst St. Louis, Mo. Sep 30 (Sat) 3 p.m. Home McKendree St. Louis, Mo. Oct 6 (Fri) 5 p.m. (CDT) Away Indianapolis Indianapolis, Ind. Oct 7 (Sat) 3 p.m. Away Lewis Romeoville, Ill. Oct 13 (Fri) TBA Neutral Midwest Region Crossover Hammond, Ind. Oct 14 (Sat) TBA Neutral Midwest Region Crossover Hammond, Ind. Oct 20 (Fri) 6 p.m. Home Missouri S&T St. Louis, Mo. Oct 21 (Sat) 3 p.m. Home Maryville St. Louis, Mo. Oct 27 (Fri) 6 p.m. Away Upper Iowa Fayette, Iowa Oct 28 (Sat) 3 p.m. Away Truman State Kirksville, Mo. Nov 3 (Fri) 6 p.m. Home Illinois Springfield St. Louis, Mo. Nov 4 (Sat) 3 p.m. Home Quincy St. Louis, Mo. Nov 10 (Fri) 6 p.m. Away Drury Springfield, Mo. Nov 11 (Sat) 3 p.m. Away Southwest Baptist Bolivar, Mo. Nov 17 (Fri) TBD Neutral GLVC Tournament East Peoria, Ill. Nov 30 (Thu) TBD Neutral NCAA Midwest Regional TBD Dec 7 (Thu) TBD Neutral NCAA Championships Moon Township, Pa.