Long Beach State University Athletics
Defending Big West Champs Announce 2015 Schedule
6/16/2015 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
LONG BEACH, Calif. -- Long Beach State women's volleyball head coach Brian Gimmillaro rolled out an impressive 2015 schedule that includes 10 NCAA Tournament teams and four nonconference weekends at home. The 31-match schedule features 17 home matches.
Long Beach State is fresh off a Big West championship season in 2014 in which the Beach went a perfect 16-0 record. LBSU returned to the postseason and advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament, finishing with a 27-5 overall record.
Nine NCAA tournament teams comprise the majority of the nonconference schedule with seven visiting Walter Pyramid this fall. Alabama, Duke, Oakland, UCLA, San Diego, Oregon State and Denver all made the postseason last year and will make their way to the Beach in 2015.
Of Long Beach State's 14 nonconference opponents, 12 posted winning records last year and 10 won at least 20 matches. All 14 were in the top-199 of the final RPI, 10 were in the top-99 and three were ranked in the AVCA's final top-25. The 14 opponents for 2015 combined to win 65 percent of their matches in 2014.
The Beach will spend three of the first four weeks at home before jumping into the 16-match Big West schedule. The season begins with the LBSU/CSUF Baden Invitational on Aug. 28 when the Beach hosts Alabama, who made the second round of the NCAA Tournament in 2014, at 7 p.m. On Aug. 29, LBSU faces another tournament team when Duke visits at 5 p.m. The first weekend wraps up on Aug. 30 with St. Mary's coming into the Pyramid.
LBSU travels to the east coast Sep. 4-5 for the Harvard Invitational where they will face Missouri Valley Conference champions Illinois State as well as Rutgers and the host, Harvard. The BSU/LMU Invitational follows Sep. 10-12 with four matches on the docket. The Beach travels to LMU on Thursday before hosting Horizon League champion Oakland on Sep. 11. The weekend wraps up with a morning match against Stony Brook and a nightcap against Central Arkansas.
Long Beach State hosts an NCAA rematch of sorts on Sep. 18-19 with last year's postseason opponents San Diego and UCLA visiting Walter Pyramid as well as Oregon State. On Friday, the 49ers will face first round opponent San Diego at 11:30 a.m. and second round opponent UCLA at 7:30 p.m. LBSU and Oregon State square off on Sep. 19 at 8 p.m. in the final tune up before the Big West season opens.
The Big West schedule will undergo a bit of a change as it condenses back to nine weeks, leaving the final weekend of the regular season open. With that extra weekend, the Beach will host former conference foe Pacific on Nov. 27 and the Summit League champion Denver on Nov. 28.
Reigning Big West Player of the Year Jenelle Hudson and Freshman of the Year Ashley Murray will return to lead the Beach in 2015.
2015 Long Beach State Women's Volleyball Schedule
| Date | Opponent | Location | Time (PT) |
| LBSU/CSUF Baden Invitational | |||
| Aug. 28 | Alabama | HOME | 7 p.m. |
| Aug. 29 | Duke | HOME | 5 p.m. |
| Aug. 30 | St. Mary's | HOME | 1 p.m. |
| Aug. 31 | Bayi (exhibition) | HOME | 7 p.m. |
| Harvard Invitational | |||
| Sep. 4 | vs. Illinois State | Boston, MA | 1 p.m. |
| Sep. 5 | vs. Rutgers | Boston, MA | 7 a.m. |
| Sep. 5 | at Harvard | Boston, MA | 4 p.m. |
| LBSU/LMU Mizuno Invitational | |||
| Sep. 10 | at LMU | Los Angeles, CA | 7 p.m. |
| Sep. 11 | Oakland | HOME | 5 p.m. |
| Sep. 12 | Stony Brook | HOME | 11 a.m. |
| Sep. 12 | Central Arkansas | HOME | 8 p.m. |
| LBSU Mizuno Invitational | |||
| Sep. 18 | San Diego | HOME | 11:30 a.m. |
| Sep. 18 | UCLA | HOME | 7:30 p.m. |
| Sep. 19 | Oregon State | HOME | 7 p.m. |
| Sep. 25 | UC Davis* | HOME | 7 p.m. |
| Sep. 26 | UC Irvine* | HOME | 7 p.m. |
| Oct. 2 | at Cal Poly* | San Luis Obispo, CA | 7 p.m. |
| Oct. 3 | at UC Santa Barbara* | Santa Barbara, CA | 7 p.m. |
| Oct. 6 | UC Riverside* | HOME | 7 p.m. |
| Oct. 11 | at Hawai'i* | Honolulu, HI | TBA |
| Oct. 17 | CSUN* | HOME | 7 p.m. |
| Oct. 23 | UC Santa Barbara* | HOME | 7 p.m. |
| Oct. 24 | Cal Poly* | HOME | 7 p.m. |
| Oct. 29 | at UC Irvine* | Irvine, CA | 7 p.m. |
| Oct. 31 | at UC Davis* | Davis, CA | 7 p.m. |
| Nov. 4 | at Cal State Fullerton* | Fullerton, CA | 7 p.m. |
| Nov. 6 | Hawai'i* | HOME | 7 p.m. |
| Nov. 13 | at CSUN* | Northridge, CA | 7 p.m. |
| Nov. 20 | Cal State Fullerton* | HOME | 7 p.m. |
| Nov. 21 | at UC Riverside* | Riverside, CA | 7 p.m. |
| Nov. 27 | Pacific | HOME | 7 p.m. |
| Nov. 28 | Denver | HOME | 1 p.m. |
