TERRE HAUTE, Ind. – Indiana State Head Volleyball Coach Ashlee Pritchard unveiled the Sycamores' 2023 schedule Wednesday afternoon. The 28-match schedule features 10 home matches inside ISU Arena and also sees Indiana State play seven matches against teams that reached the postseason in 2022.
 
"We could not be more excited for this upcoming fall season," Pritchard said. "We have a strong group of returners that worked incredibly hard this spring and a group of newcomers that are excited to contribute. Our preseason schedule gives us an opportunity to see where we stack up among some great teams and get us ready for the tough Missouri Valley Conference season."
 
Indiana State opens its 2023 campaign with a trio of early-season tournaments, starting with the Tribute to #10 Tournament in Cincinnati, Ohio. The Sycamores open their season August 25 against Xavier and will face Alabama State and Cincinnati to close the opening weekend. Xavier and Alabama State both participated in the NIVC last season.
 
The second weekend of the season sees the Blue and White head to the Lindenwood Invitational in St. Charles, Missouri. Indiana State will face ULM, Austin Peay and Lindenwood September 1-2, before facing Morehead State, Butler and Northern Kentucky at MSU's Comfort Inn-Vitational in Morehead, Kentucky, September 8-9 in its final early-season tournament.
 
The Sycamores' first home match of the season is the final non-conference match on the docket, as Indiana State will face IUPUI September 15 inside ISU Arena. The Trees follow that with four straight road matches to start MVC play, with trips to Belmont (Sept. 22), Murray State (Sept. 23), Missouri State (Sept. 29) and Southern Illinois (Sept. 30) closing the month of September.
 
Six of Indiana State's 10 home matches come in the month of October, starting with contests against 2022 NIVC Runner-Up Drake (Oct. 6) and defending MVC Champion Northern Iowa (Oct. 7). The Sycamores host Valparaiso (Oct. 13), another NIVC team from last season, and UIC (Oct. 14) the following weekend, with a midweek trip to Evansville October 9 splitting up the two home weekends. Indiana State heads back on the road to face Bradley (Oct. 20) and Illinois State (Oct. 21) before closing the month at ISU Arena against Southern Illinois (Oct. 27) and Missouri State (Oct. 28).
 
Indiana State kicks off November on the road at Northern Iowa (Nov. 3) and Drake (Nov. 4) before closing the regular season with three straight home matches. The Sycamores welcome Murray State (Nov. 11), Belmont (Nov. 12) and Evansville (Nov. 15) to ISU Arena to conclude the regular season.
 
The 2023 Missouri Valley Conference Tournament will take place Nov. 19-22 at Hammons Student Center in Springfield, Missouri. The top eight teams will qualify for the conference tournament.
 
Indiana State returns all six starters from its 2022 team, including each of the five Sycamores who recorded more than 100 kills. The Trees also return their top two blocks leaders, four of their top six digs leaders, their leader in assists and three of their top five in service aces from last season. Ashlee Pritchard enters her second season on the sidelines in Terre Haute and looks to build off her debut campaign with Indiana State, which saw the Sycamores among the MVC leaders in blocks and digs.
 
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