MANHATTAN, Kan. (Kansas State Athletics) – K-State and head coach Suzie Fritz revealed the entire volleyball schedule for the 2022 season Thursday, which features 12 home matches and one home exhibition contest at Bramlage Coliseum.
The season officially begins on Friday, August 26 as the Wildcats will host the annual K-State Invitational from August 26-27. It will mark the first time that K-State opens a season at home since 2012, as the two-day tournament will include matchups with Sam Houston (August 26), NC State (August 26) and Florida A&M (August 27).
Prior to the K-State Invitational, the Wildcats will host Wayne State (Nebraska) in an exhibition contest on Friday, August 19 at 6 p.m.
The Cats’ 2022 slate features nine teams (15 matches) that qualified for last season’s NCAA Volleyball Championship, including six Big 12 foes and non-conference opponents Creighton, Rice and UCF. Four squads on K-State’s schedule finished last season ranked in the AVCA Top 25 in Baylor, Creighton, Kansas and Texas.
After the home tournament, the Wildcats will make a trip to future Big 12-member UCF for the three-day UCF Challenge. There, K-State will face Syracuse (September 1) and North Florida (September 2) before finishing the weekend against the Knights on September 3.
The Wildcats will then return home to host former conference rival Missouri on September 7 at Bramlage Coliseum.
The non-conference slate also features weekend invitationals at the Rambler Challenge hosted by Loyola Chicago (September 9-10) and the Rice Invitational (September 16-17). In between, the Cats will make a midweek stop at Kansas City on Wednesday, September 14.
K-State’s conference schedule, which was announced last week, gets underway with the Dillons Sunflower Showdown against KU on September 24 at Bramlage Coliseum, highlighting the eight-match home Big 12 slate. The Wildcats will also host Iowa State (October 1), TCU (October 15), Baylor (October 22), Texas October 28, West Virginia (November 10), Oklahoma (November 16) and Texas Tech (November 23).
The Big 12 will revert to its traditional home-and-home schedule for the 2022 campaign after playing two seasons of an adjusted schedule due to the coronavirus pandemic. Each of the last two volleyball seasons, teams played a two-match series over two days in one location.
The Wildcats will play all their home matches in Bramlage Coliseum for the third and final year, as Morgan Family Arena is scheduled to be open for the 2023 fall season.
K-State earned its 18th all-time NCAA Championship appearance in 2021 after a 15-13 record (6-10 Big 12). It marked the 13th postseason bid under Fritz, who enters her 22nd season at the helm of the Wildcats.
