PORTLAND, Ore. – University of Portland Volleyball has announced their schedule for the 2022 season. This year's schedule features matchups against several high-level mid-major programs and a challenging WCC slate.

"We are very excited about our fall 2022 Portland volleyball schedule," Portland head coach Megan Burton said. "Every year we want to schedule to prepare ourselves for a conference championship and postseason play."

The Pilots will begin the year on the road for their first three tournaments, starting with a trip to California for the Sacramento State Invitational from Aug. 26-27. They will play two games on Friday the 26^th, playing Middle Tennessee State that morning before taking on the Nevada Wolfpack at night. Portland head coach Megan Burton served as an assistant coach with the Wolfpack for five seasons before joining the Pilots as an assistant in 2019. Portland will finish the tournament off the following day against the host school, Sacramento State.

Following that, the Pilots will travel to Colorado for the Denver Invitational from Sept. 1-3. They'll play the Denver Pioneers in the opener on Sept. 1, the Hofstra Pride on Sept. 2 and the Butler Bulldogs on Sept. 3. Denver had a particularly strong 2021, going 23-6 and posting the most wins in the Summit League overall.

Portland's final road tournament will be in-state. They'll make their way to Corvallis for the Oregon State Invitational from Sept. 9-10. They take on North Texas on the 9^th before playing Utah State and Oregon State on the 10^th. The Aggies had the strongest 2021 of the bunch, going 22-9 and finishing the regular season first in the Mountain West.

The Pilots will play their first home tournament in mid-September, welcoming Portland State and Seattle U to the Chiles Center from Sept. 15-17 for the Portland North Marriott Invitational. Portland hosts their crosstown rivals in the Vikings on the 15^th before challenging the Redhawks on the 17^th to close out the tourney. Portland State and Seattle U will also play each other on the 17^th before the Pilots' match.

"Right off the bat we get an opportunity to thrive on the road traveling to Sacramento State, Denver U, and Oregon State's tournaments," Burton said. "We will see a variety of challenges across the net, competing against power-five schools and some conference champions. We will close out preseason at home by welcoming our PNW rivals Portland State and Seattle U over to the Chiles Center. This schedule with serve as a solid test and build up leading into our West Coast Conference season play."

Conference play begins soon after for the Pilots, with Portland starting things off with two matches at the Chiles Center. They will host the Saint Mary's Gaels on Sept. 21 to open conference play, followed by a matchup with the Pacific Tigers on Sept. 24. Burton shined for the Gaels in her playing days, a four-year starter who twice earned All-WCC First Team honors and helped Saint Mary's win their first ever WCC Championship. She is also still among the school's all-time leaders in blocks and hitting percentage.

Portland will head to Loyola Marymount on Sept. 27 for their first road WCC match before returning home for a pair of matches against the BYU Cougars and the San Diego Toreros on Sept. 29 and Oct. 1 respectively. BYU and San Diego finished first and third in the conference last season, and both squads made the NCAA Tournament. The Toreros lost in the first round to Rice, but the Cougars advanced all the way to the Sweet 16 before falling to the Purdue Boilermakers.

The Pilots will be on the road for the following three matches, taking on the Gonzaga Bulldogs on Oct. 8, the Santa Clara Broncos on Oct. 13 and the San Francisco Dons on Oct. 15. Portland had the most success in conference against these three squads in 2021, with the Pilots beating both the Zags and the Dons last season and narrowly losing to the Broncos 3-2 in their only showdown.

Portland hosts the Pepperdine Waves on Oct. 20 before their rematch against Loyola Marymount. Pepperdine finished second in the conference with a 22-6 record and earning a berth to the NCAA Tournament. They fell in the first round to UCF.

All matches after the Pepperdine match are rematches. After LMU, the Pilots will play their road matches against San Diego and BYU on Oct. 27 and Oct. 29 respectively. They will then host Gonzaga on Nov. 5, San Francisco on Nov. 10 and Santa Clara on Nov. 12. The Santa Clara match will be the home finale for the Pilots.

The Pilots finish the season on the road with a stretch of road matches in California. They'll start the three-game swing against Pacific in Stockton on Nov. 17. Portland will then head to Moraga on Nov. 19 for that final showdown before their season finale
against the Pepperdine Waves on Nov. 22.

"The WCC is extremely competitive every season and this year the conference continues to bring in great talent across the board," Burton said. "Every match will be high-level and entertaining volleyball for our fans to watch. We can't wait to see all you Portland Volleyball fans in the gym this fall. Go Pilots!"

For tickets, visit www.portlandpilots.com/tickets.  Check out our full schedule below.

2022 UP VOLLEYBALL SCHEDULE
Aug. 26 vs. Middle Tennessee State, 10 AM*
Aug. 26 vs. Nevada, 5 PM*
Aug. 27 at Sacramento State, 1:30 PM*
Sept. 1 at Denver, 6 PM^
Sept. 2 vs. Hofstra, 4 PM^
Sept. 3 vs. Butler, 11 AM or Noon^
Sept. 9 vs. North Texas, 5 PM#
Sept. 10 vs. Utah State, 1 PM#
Sept. 10 at Oregon State, 7 PM#
Sept. 15 vs. Portland State, 6 PM+
Sept. 17 vs. Seattle U, 4 PM+
Sept. 21 vs. Saint Mary's, 12 PM
Sept. 24 vs. Pacific, 7 PM
Sept. 27 at Loyola Marymount, 7 PM
Sept. 29 vs. BYU, 6 PM
Oct. 1 vs. San Diego, 1 PM
Oct. 8 at Gonzaga, 12 PM
Oct. 13 at Santa Clara, 6 PM
Oct. 15 at San Francisco, 1 PM
Oct. 20 vs. Pepperdine, 6 PM
Oct. 22 vs. Loyola Marymount, 1 PM
Oct. 27 at San Diego, 7 PM
Oct. 29 at BYU, 1 PM
Nov. 5 vs. Gonzaga, 1 PM
Nov. 10 vs. San Francisco, 6 PM
Nov. 12 vs. Santa Clara, 1 PM
Nov. 17 at Pacific, 6 PM
Nov. 19 at Saint Mary's, 1 PM
Nov. 22 at Pepperdine, 7 PM

LEGEND
Bold indicates home match
Italics indicates WCC Match
*Indicates Sacramento State Invitational
^Indicates Denver Invitational
#Indicates Oregon State Invitational
+Indicates Portland North Marriott Invitational