Springfield, Ohio – The Wittenberg University men's volleyball team and first-year head coach Ryan Thompson announced their 2018 schedule this past week.  

The Tigers will take on three opponents who were nationally ranked last season, and one from the "others receiving votes" category of the AVCA Coaches Top-25 Poll. The talent pool that Coach Thompson has lined on his team's schedule includes Juniata, Penn St. Altoona, and Dominican (IL), and Marymont (Va.), along with a conference matchup against reigning MCVL West Division Champs Carthage College.  

"I am excited to be able to announce our schedule for the upcoming 2017-2018 campaign, my first as the head coach here.  Our schedule is one that is going to present us with many different challenges and we are very much looking forward to the competition.  We face a very tough Marymount team right out of the gate, followed by a match with Juniata who was an NCAA Tournament team a year ago," said Thompson.

Wittenberg will once again host their annual Jim Coleman Invitational, squaring off against Juniata in the first match of the invite. The Knights of Southern Virginia will come back to town this year for the Friday Night primetime match of the Invitational; after falling to the Tigers 3-1 during last year's spread of games.  Wittenberg will conclude their opening weekend of play against the Lakeland College Muskies on Saturday morning. 

The Tigers will take one final tour of the Midwest Collegiate Volleyball League (MCVL) this season, before departing for the Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference (AMCC) in 2018-2019. Wittenberg will get a taste of their future competition to come when they take on Penn St. Altoona, Penn St. Behrend and Hiram, all current AMCC member institutions.

"Our non-conference schedule which features two other NCAA Tournament teams from a year ago should help prepare us nicely for our difficult conference schedule.  The MCVL has a little bit of a different look this year with several schools departing to join the NACC, but it will still be a challenge for us.  We are looking forward to one last test from the MCVL before we depart next year for the AMCC," said Thompson.