LACEY, Wash. – After a record-breaking 2022 season, the Saint Martin's volleyball team is gearing up for an exciting fall 2023 season, with Head Coach Dan Behnke announcing a tough non-conference schedule including tournaments in Salt Lake City and Colorado Springs, and the home opener against Montana State Billings on September 14^th.
 
"One of our goals was to create a tougher non-conference schedule," Coach Behnke stated. "Facing Nebraska-Kearney in back-to-back weekends will be an early and good test for us. UNK finished 15th in the final AVCA Top 25 poll last season."
 
Those matchups with UNK will happen first at the Westminster Invite in Salt Lake City where the Saints will play on September 1^st and 2^nd. Then SMU will head to beautiful Colorado Springs where they'll battle once again with the Lopers in the shadow of Pikes Peak.
 
The team will also face other strong non-conference opponents such as Texas Women's University, Oklahoma Christian University, and the University of Colorado-Colorado Springs before diving into their Great Northwest Athletic Conference schedule.
 
The GNAC conference season will kick off with a home game against MSU-Billings on September 14th, before another home match on September 16^th, against Seattle Pacific University. Then the team will hit the road for a non-conference game against Pacific University, followed by three-straight road GNAC games.
 
The Saints will host 10 total games at Marcus Pavilion in 2023, nine of them against GNAC foes and one game against Division III Linfield University. The final home game of the season will be on November 11^th against Western Washington University. All Thursday games will start at 7 PM, while Saturday games will start at either 1 PM or 5 PM.
 
Saint Martin's will have a young roster in 2023 with a myriad of new players entering the fray for the Saints, including representation from Washington, California, Texas, and Hawaii already announced. Their experience is still plentiful, and that gives the SMU coaching staff plenty of confidence, despite starting the year with eight straight games away from home.
 
"We're thrilled to have seven newcomers who will be joining us this Fall," Coach Behnke added. "They bring a wealth of experience as four of them recently competed at the USA Junior National Championships in Columbus a few weekends ago...with one of them winning a national title."
 
The team is looking forward to the contributions of these talented newcomers, as well as the leadership of returning players, as they aim to compete at the highest level and make a deep run in the GNAC.
 
You can view the entire schedule online at SMUSaints.com as well as on the SMU social media accounts. Stay tuned for all the latest scores and updates throughout the summer.