Moon Township, Pa.  – The Robert Morris University volleyball team will compete in 19 matches in Pennsylvania, including two tournaments, a crosstown rivalry, a conference matchup, and an intrasquad game to kick off the 2016 season.

Robert Morris, under the direction of seventh-year head coach Dale Starr, will unofficially open the 2016 campaign with its Blue/Red Game on Aug. 20 in the Charles L. Sewall Center before embarking on its first road trip of the season to Charleston, S.C. for a two-day tournament at The Citadel.

The Colonials return to the Sewall Center in early September, when they host their annual Robert Morris Invitational. Bucknell, Buffalo, and Coppin State are among the teams who will be competing in Moon Township on Friday, Sept. 2 and Saturday, Sept. 3.

Robert Morris hits the road for seven of its next eight matches, with one stop back on campus in between two tournaments to host Youngstown State. The Colonials start the road swing at Kent State for a mid-week non-conference test, then head to Baltimore, Md., for the UMBC Invitational. RMU does not have far to go after they host the Penguins, as they travel to the University of Pittsburgh campus to participate in the Panther Challenge on Sept. 16 and Sept. 17.

Following the local tournament, RMU will dive right into the Northeast Conference slate at home with Central Connecticut State University and Bryant University. The Colonials wrap up the month of September at downtown Pittsburgh foe Duquesne University.

The Colonials open October on the road against NEC opponents Fairleigh Dickinson University and Sacred Heart University before they host the next four at home, including an Oct. 12 affair against Big XII neighbor West Virginia University on Oct. 12 at 6 p.m. to cap the non-conference portion of the season. The four-game home stand wraps up with a Keystone State rivalry between Saint Francis U. and RMU on Saturday, Oct. 15 at 3 p.m.

RMU continues league play on Oct. 22-23 in the New England area, when it faces CCSU and Bryant. The Colonials make their final two home appearances of the regular season during the last weekend of October against FDU on Saturday, Oct. 29 at 3 p.m. and Sacred Heart on Sunday, Oct. 30 at 3 p.m.

The Colonials' final road trip starts in Loretto, Pa., at Saint Francis U. on Friday, Nov. 4 at 6 p.m. and ends in the Big Apple at St. Francis Brooklyn on Saturday, Nov. 12 and LIU Brooklyn on Sunday, Nov. 13, with both matches scheduled for 1 p.m.

The NEC Tournament, which is hosted by the league's regular-season champion, will feature the top four teams in the conference and will be held on Nov. 19-20.

Robert Morris captured its first NEC title since 2003 and eighth overall this past November, and extended the conference's longest active streak of NEC Tournament appearances to 17. RMU advanced to the NCAA Tournament for the sixth time in program history.  The Colonials also reached the overall 19-win mark for the first time under Starr last season.


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