PRINCESS ANNE, Md. — The 2015 schedule for the University of Maryland Eastern Shore volleyball team will feature 28 regular season matches beginning in August and culminating in November. Eighteen of those matches will be played at the William P. Hytche Athletic Center on campus, including three September tournaments.
Most home game matches start at 6:00 p.m. with a few exceptions. The Saturday afternoon tournament games will begin either at noon or 2:00 p.m., and the final two home matches of the year will start at three in the afternoon.
The campaign kicks off August 28th and 29th with the Maroon and Gray Tournament. UMES will play the Rider Broncs and the UMass Lowell River Hawks twice over the weekend, with each team squaring off with the Hawks once per day.
On Labor Day Weekend, the Hawks welcome three more opponents in the Maryland Eastern Shore Invitational September 4th and 5th. Quinnipiac will be UMES’ first test on Friday night, followed by bouts with MEAC rival Delaware State and North Carolina A&T State on Saturday. UMES went a perfect 3-0 against the MEAC duo a year ago.
North Carolina Central, Loyola University of Maryland, and Manhattan arrive one week later for the UMES Fall Invite. The Hawks will play the Eagles on September 11th before squaring off with the Greyhounds and the Jaspers the following day.
Before entering conference play UMES will make one road trip to Wilmington, N.C. to play in the UNC Wilmington Invitational. The Hawks will face the Stetson Hatters on September 18th at 5:00 p.m., before taking on to the host Seahawks at 12:30p.m. Saturday and the Presbyterian Blue Hose at 5:00 p.m. on the 19th.
On September 25th the Hawks will return home to begin their 12-game conference schedule against the Howard Bison. This matchup should be a dandy as the Bison were selected to win the MEAC Northern Division, finishing 2014 with an 11-1 conference record.
Continuing at home, the Norfolk State Spartans come to town on October 2nd. They will be followed by the reigning MEAC champions, the Hampton Pirates, on October 3rd. Like the Bison, the Pirates finished 11-1 in conference play, but may have an uphill battle after replacing all six starters from its championship squad.
A swing to the other side of the Chesapeake is next up for the Hawks as they take on Morgan State at 7:00 p.m. on October 9th and Coppin State October 10th at 3:00 in the afternoon. The Maroon and Grey suffered two heartbreakers in Baltimore last season. Staying in conference play the team returns home, hosting Delaware State on the 16th of October before traveling to Hampton, facing the Pirates on the 17th.
A pair of Tuesday non-conference matchups await UMES at the Hytche, with a date against the La Salle Explorers on the 20th followed by the George Mason Patriots one week later on the 27th. Sandwiched in between is a crucial road conference match versus Howard on the 23rd in Washington. The two Baltimore MEAC teams come to the Hytche to wrap up the home season. Morgan State arrives in Princess Anne on October 30th, while Coppin State will square off in the 2015 home finale for the Hawks on November 1st.
A trio of road games are on tap for the next two weeks, with matchups against Norfolk State on November 6th at 6:00p.m., Delaware State on November 8th at 1:00 p.m., and a non-conference match versus the VCU Rams on November 11th with a 7:00 p.m. start.
After that the team will host the 2015 MEAC Championships in the Hytche, beginning on November 20th and crowning a conference champion on the 22nd.
Accompanying the team’s bevy of home games will be a wide variety of promotional efforts, which will be released later this month. This will include a series of guest coaches, theme nights, and programs designed to bring groups of volleyball enthusiasts to Princess Anne.