Illinois State Volleyball Announces 2023 Schedule

NORMAL, Ill. - Illinois State volleyball announced its 2023 schedule on Monday, which features 18 Missouri Valley Conference contests and a 12-match non-conference slate highlighted by road Power Five matches at Missouri, Northwestern, and Illinois, respectively.

"We were able to put together a quality non-conference schedule to help prepare us for the always-challenging Missouri Valley Conference," second-year head coach Allie Matters said. "We are excited to take on both in-state and regional foes and feel like we have an energized group of student-athletes ready to compete at the top of the MVC." 

Redbird fans can get their first glimpse of the team at CEFCU Arena on August 18 and 19 as ISU hosts its Red-White scrimmage and SIUE in an exhibition.

Illinois State starts the season at Missouri before a trio of matches in Illinois, ISU's Redbird Classic, and the Green Bay Tournament to round out the non-conference schedule.

The Redbirds feature a revamped roster in 2023 with 10 newcomers to go with 2022 All-MVC Freshman Team honorees Aida Shadewald and Regan Haith and five additional returnees.

Illinois State finished 2022 at 12-17 overall and 5-13 in the MVC, falling short of the MVC Tournament. Illinois State's win over No. 25 Illinois on 9/17/22 was the only win by an MVC school against a top-25 foe in 2022 (1-9).

NOTES

• Illinois State is scheduled to play at Illinois for the first time since 9/12/03. The teams played in Milwaukee in 2022 and in Normal in 2021 and 2019 as ISU won two of those three matches.
• Illinois State is scheduled to face Northwestern for the first time since 10/15/93.
• Illinois State is scheduled to face St. Thomas and South Dakota for the first time in program history.
• Illinois State is opening with a Power Five school for the first time since playing at Miami (Fla.) in 2015 (Cincinnati was in the AAC in 2022 prior to moving to the Big 12).

• The three scheduled Power Five opponents are the most Illinois State has played in the regular season since 2018 (four).

FULL SCHEDULE

August

Friday 18 Red/White Scrimmage 5:00pm

Saturday 19 Exhibition vs. SIUE 6:00pm

@ MISSOURI TOURNAMENT

Friday 25 v. Missouri 6:00pm

Sat 26 v. Central Arkansas 10:00am

Sat 26 v. Colgate 4:00pm

September

Friday 1 @ Northwestern 5:00pm

@ ILLINOIS TOURNAMENT

Saturday 2 v. Wichita State 1:00pm

Sunday 3 v. Illinois 1:00pm

REDBIRD CLASSIC

Friday 8 SLU vs. Miami (OH) 10:00am

8 v. New Mexico State 12:30pm

8 New Mexico State vs. Miami (OH) 5:00pm

8 v. SLU 7:30pm

Saturday 9 New Mexico State vs. SLU 12:00pm

9 v. Miami (OH) 2:30pm

@ GREEN BAY TOURNAMENT

Fri 15 v. St. Thomas 11:00am

Fri. 15 v. South Dakota 3:00pm

Sat. 16 v. Green Bay 2:00pm

Friday 22 Drake 6pm

Saturday 23 Northern Iowa 7pm

Friday 29 @Murray State 6pm

Saturday 30 @Belmont 4pm

October

Friday 6 @Valparaiso 6pm

Saturday 7 @UIC 4pm

Friday 13 Belmont 6pm

Saturday 14 Murray State 7pm

Monday 16 Bradley 6pm

Friday 20 Evansville 6pm

Saturday 21 Indiana State 4pm

Friday 27 @ Northern Iowa 6pm

Saturday 28 @Drake 4pm

November

Friday 3 UIC 6pm

Saturday 4 Valparaiso 4pm

Friday 10 @ Southern Illinois 6pm

Saturday 11 @ Missouri State 4pm

Wednesday 15 @ Bradley 6pm

Sun-Wed 19-22 MVC TOURNAMENT @ Missouri State

For all latest on Illinois State volleyball, stay tuned at GoRedbirds.com and follow the team on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and TikTok.

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