DOVER, Del. --- Eleven home matches and four in-season tournament appearances highlight the 2016 Delaware State volleyball schedule.

The Hornets will open their 2016 campaign against Sacred Heart in the University of Maryland Tournament at the Xfinity Center in College, Md., on August 26. DSU will also face host Maryland and Eastern Michigan in the two-day tournament.

The following weekend (Sep. 2-3), the Hornets will compete with Loyola, Akron and UMBC in the Loyola Invitational in Baltimore.

Delaware State has also been invited to participate in the Elon University Tournament Sep. 9-10 in Elon, N.C., and the West Point Tournament, hosted by Army, Sep. 16-17 in West Point, N.Y.

The Hornets will play their 2016 home opener against St. Francis-Brooklyn on Tues. Sep. 20 in Memorial Hall.

Defending Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference champ Howard will provide the opposition for DSU’s conference opener at home on Sun. Sep. 25.

The Hornet netters will also welcome MEAC foes Coppin State (Oct. 7), Morgan State (Oct. 9), Norfolk State (Oct. 16) Hampton (Nov. 4) and UMES (Nov. 6) to Memorial Hall, in addition to home contests against non-conference opponents  American (Sep. 28), La Salle (Oct. 18), New Hampshire (Oct. 21) and NJIT (Nov. 8) this season.

The 2016 MEAC Tournament is set for Nov. 20-22 at UMES in Princess Anne, Md.

Delaware State returns five letter winners from its 2015 squad, which posted a 3-25 overall record and a 1-11 mark in the MEAC.

Second-year head coach Whitney Johnson signed five new players for the upcoming season, including four junior college transfers.