By Robert McKinney, Assistant Athletics Director, Communications
SALEM, Ore . -- Willamette University volleyball Head Coach Tom Shoji has released his team's schedule for the 2018 season. The Bearcats will begin the season with four matches in the Oregon Trail Classic at Lewis & Clark College and will compete in four matches at the Cal Lu Fornia Invitational hosted by California Lutheran University. Willamette's schedule also includes 14 matches against Northwest Conference opponents and a non-conference match with Multnomah University.
The Oregon Trail Classic is set for Friday, Aug. 31 and Saturday, Sept. 1. Willamette will take on Johnson and Wales University (Colo.) and Illinois Institute of Technology on Aug. 31, before facing University of Wisconsin-Stout and Mills College (Calif.) on Sept 1.
On Friday, Sept. 7 and Saturday, Sept. 8, the Bearcats will compete at the Cal Lu Fornia Invitational in Thousand Oaks, California. On Sept. 7, WU will play Chapman College (Calif.) and University of California-Santa Cruz. On Sept. 8, the Bearcats will battle University of Redlands (Calif.) and Hardin-Simmons University (Texas).
Willamette will open Northwest Conference play with a pair of road games. The Bearcats will play at Whitworth University on Friday, Sept. 14 in Spokane, Washington, and will take on Whitman College on Saturday, Sept. 15 in Walla Walla, Washington.
The Bearcats will play their final non-conference match of the regular season at Multnomah on Tuesday, Sept. 18. Willamette will return to NWC action on Friday, Sept. 21 with a match at Linfield College.
After opening the season with 14 consecutive matches on the road or at neutral sites, the Bearcats will compete in their home opener on Saturday, Sept. 22 against Pacific Lutheran University. Game time is set for 5 p.m. (PDT) at Cone Field House.
WU will play two more home matches on Wednesday, Sept. 26 against Lewis & Clark and on Friday, Sept. 28 against Pacific University. Both matches will start at 7 p.m. (PDT).
A road trip to University of Puget Sound for an NWC battle on Friday, Oct. 5 will be followed by four consecutive matches at home.
The Bearcats will host George Fox University on Saturday, Oct. 6 at 7 p.m. (PDT) before taking on Whitworth and Whitman one week later. Willamette will face Whitworth on Friday, Oct. 12 at 7 p.m. and will compete against Whitman on Saturday, Oct. 13 at 6 p.m. The matches with the Pirates and the Blues will be part of Homecoming/Family Weekend.
Willamette's four-game homestand will conclude with a match against archrival Linfield on Friday, Oct. 19 at 7 p.m. (PDT). After the Bearcats and the Wildcats play, Willamette will get ready for three consecutive matches on the road.
On Saturday, Oct. 20, the Bearcats will play at Pacific Lutheran in Tacoma, Washington. On Wednesday, Oct. 24, WU will take on Lewis & Clark in Portland, and on Friday, Oct. 26, the Bearcats will play at Pacific.
Senior Night for the Bearcats will be on Friday, Nov. 2, when Willamette will battle Puget Sound at Cone Field House starting at 7 p.m. (PDT). Willamette is slated to conclude the regular season at George Fox on Saturday, Nov. 3.
