Long Beach State University Athletics
LBSU Women's Volleyball Releases 2016 Schedule
7/6/2016 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
2016 LBSU Women's Volleyball Schedule 
Renew or purchase your season tickets
Long Beach, Calif. - Long Beach State women's volleyball has released its upcoming schedule for the 2016 indoor season, with plenty of intriguing matchups to look forward to. The Beach will face off against six NCAA Tournament teams from a season ago with five of them visiting Walter Pyramid.
"It is a great schedule," said LBSU head coach Brian Gimmillaro, who is entering his 32nd season at the helm. "There are several outstanding teams and we are very fortunate to be playing some of those teams at Long Beach State and in the Pyramid--UCLA, Arizona State, Loyola Marymount, Duke; and opening up with Cal is an excellent opening match. I think it will be an exciting team this year and one that will be very entertaining to watch."
The 49ers open their regular season with a trip to the Pacific Northwest for a tournament at Portland State. LBSU's first match is against the host Vikings on Friday, Aug. 26 at 4 p.m. The Beach returns to action with two matches the next day, first against Texas Tech at 11:30 a.m. then against Colorado at 6 p.m.
That begins a stretch of three straight matches against Pac-12 opponents, as Long Beach State returns home for the LBSU Mizuno Invitational, Sep. 2-3. The Beach takes on Cal on Friday at 1 p.m. in its home opener, then hosts Washington State on Saturday at 7 p.m. That leads into a big rematch with Loyola Marymount on Thursday, Sep. 8 at Walter Pyramid. The Lions were a Sweet 16 team last season, but the Beach won the head-to-head battle in a five-set thriller in Los Angeles last September.
Long Beach State then hosts the LBSU Baden Invitational with matches against Duke (Friday, Sep. 9), Pepperdine (Saturday, Sep. 10), and Arizona State (Saturday, Sep. 10). The Beach concludes its seven-match homestand with a Wednesday night match against UCLA on Sep. 14 at 7 p.m.
The Beach will finish off its pre-conference slate with a trip to San Diego for three matches in two days, Sep. 16-17. LBSU opens with matches vs. San Jose State and San Diego on Friday at the USD campus, followed by a Saturday night showdown at San Diego State.
LBSU opens Big West play on the road with a trip to UC Davis on Sep. 22, then UC Irvine on Sep. 24. The home opener in conference is a marquee matchup against Cal Poly (Friday, Sep. 30), pitting two of the Big West's top teams against one another. The teams split the two meetings in 2015, with Long Beach State winning a five-set thriller at Walter Pyramid in late October.
The following weekend, defending Big West champion Hawai'i visits Walter Pyramid (Oct. 8) for a Saturday night showdown. The 49ers and Rainbow Wahine have alternated unbeaten Big West records in each of the past two seasons, continuing the tradition of the conference's top volleyball rivalry.
A three-match homestand from Oct. 28-Nov. 1 leads into LBSU's return trip to play Hawai'i on Nov. 4 in Honolulu. That begins a slower portion of the schedule when the 49ers play just three matches from Nov. 4-18, all on the road. Big West play concludes on Nov. 19 with a home match vs. UC Riverside.
Once again, the 49ers will host a pair of non-conference matches on Thanksgiving weekend to conclude the regular season. North Texas visits Nov. 25 at Noon, followed by a match with Denver on Nov. 26 at 1 p.m.
Of course, fans can get an early look at this year's team at the annual alumni match, which will take place Aug. 20 at 7 p.m. at Walter Pyramid. Including the alumni match, Long Beach State has 18 home matches scheduled in 2016.
For returning season ticket holders, renewals have been sent out via email and physical invoices will be mailed out soon. New season tickets for the entire 2016 home schedule are currently available online.
