Match #1
Western Oregon (0-0) vs. #15 Florida Southern (0-0)
Thursday, Sept. 1, 2016, at 12 p.m. PT
Portland, Ore. – LCEF Court
Live Stats & Live Video

Match #2
Western Oregon (0-0) vs. Embry-Riddle (0-0)
Friday, Sept. 2, 2016, at 2:30 p.m. PT
Portland, Ore. – LCEF Court
Live Stats & Live Video

Match #3
Western Oregon (0-0) vs. (RV) Metro State (0-0)
Saturday, Sept. 3, 2016, at 5 p.m. PT
Portland, Ore. – LCEF Court
Live Stats & Live Video

Western Oregon volleyball looks to find itself on the upswing in 2016 as the season's opening weekend approaches. New head coach Tommy Gott, with a collection of talented student-athletes, hopes to lead the Wolves to a solid campaign this year.
 
First on the schedule is a three-day, pre-Labor Day tournament in Portland, hosted by Concordia. WOU plays 15^th-ranked Florida Southern on Thursday, Sept. 1 at noon, Embry-Riddle at 2:30 p.m. on Friday (Sept. 2) and closes out the tourney against Metro State at 5 p.m. on Saturday (Sept. 3).
 
Among a solid core of upperclassmen are libero Christie Colasurdo and outside hitter Mariella Vandenkooy. Both were All-GNAC honorable mentions while Colasurdo set or broke multiple single-game and season defensive records. Colasurdo, a senior, enters 2016 looking to build on a mammoth defensive year where she more than doubled her dig output from the previous season (676 in 2015, 331 in 2014) and had six matches with over 30 digs. Vandenkooy, entering her sophomore year, was one of the steadiest offensive weapons for the Wolves last year. She had 10 kiils in a match once, but seven or more put-aways in 14 matches.
 
Complementing the core returners are senior middle blocker Paige Orth, junior defensive specialist Sheila Limas De La Cruz, junior middle Sydney Blankinship and a host of talented sophomores. Second-year letterwinner players include outside hitter Amanda Short, middle blocker Sophie Hall and a pair of setters – Leila Holt and Maddie Mehciz. Rounding out the returners are sophomores Marlie Norman, Mackenzie Bowen and Libbie Hoene.
 
The Wolves' freshman class is four players deep with defensive specialist Makenna Behrens (Kennewick, WA), outside hitter Morgan Haskett (Roseburg, OR), outside Jenna Compton (Phelan, CA) and opposite Katherine Huntington (Superior, CO).
 
The Wolves have the skills to succeed and are excited to take the court after a positive preseason.
 
WOU opens the CU tournament with nationally-ranked Florida Southern, a team that has been in the AVCA rankings for 22 consecutive weeks dating back to Oct. 2014. Last year, the Moccasins went 25-9 and advanced to the Division II South Region final. WOU won the only matchup with the Mocs on Aug. 30, 2012 in Monmouth.
 
Friday's match will be the first-ever meeting between the Wolves and the Eagles of Embry-Riddle. Coming off a 12-18 season, the team will travel to the home state of their head coach Joslynn Gallop to play in the opening weekend tournament. Embry-Riddle is in its third year of transition into the NCAA Division II ranks.
 
The Wolves close the three-match weekend on Saturday against Metro State out of the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference. The Roadrunners received votes in the AVCA preseason poll after a 20-12 season in 2015 that included a trip to the NCAA Tournament for a 16^th consecutive season. Metro State has won all three encounters previously in the series with a five-set win coming in 2013 during the Wolves' Invitational.