Women’s volleyball team announces 2017 schedule

Katie Chin | Daily Trojan
Long road ahead · Senior middle blocker Jordan Dunn and the Trojans will kick off their 2017 season against Loyola Marymount on Aug. 25.

The women’s volleyball team will open its season against Loyola Marymount.

The Trojans released their 2017 schedule on Thursday, as USC enters the fall looking to build on its 2016 campaign — when the program finished 18-14 in its first season after the graduation of all-time points, kills and aces leader Samantha Bricio.

Head coach Mick Haley’s squad will face numerous challenges during the upcoming campaign. The Trojans are scheduled to play 11 teams that made the NCAA Tournament last season, including four regional finalists. They will also face defending national champions Stanford twice in Pac-12 play.

USC kicks off the year with four non-conference tournaments, beginning with one in Los Angeles against LMU, Michigan and Albany. The Trojans play the Lions at LMU on Aug. 25 to open the season before hosting Michigan at the Galen Center for their home opener.

USC then heads to Omaha, Neb., for the Bluejay Invitational, where the team will take on national quarterfinalist Creighton on its home floor in addition to Northern Iowa and Kentucky.

Finally, the Trojans wrap up their out-of-conference slate with tournaments in Santa Barbara and Maryland. USC locks horns with Arkansas, UCSB and Yale on the West Coast before facing Maryland and Oklahoma out east. By the time Haley and company begin league play on Sept. 20, the Trojans will have played 11 non-conference games.

The team will have to adjust to Pac-12 opposition quickly, too, as USC’s first conference matchup comes in Westwood against UCLA. Four days later, the Trojans have their Pac-12 home opener against Oregon State. The rematch against the Bruins at the Galen Center doesn’t come until the final day of the regular season on Nov. 25.

USC will play two matches against all Pac-12 opponents next fall — one home and one away — except Oregon State. The highlight of the conference schedule likely comes when national champions visit L.A. on Oct. 15. The Trojans travel to Stanford, Calif., for a rematch exactly one month later.

This year’s national champion will be crowned on Dec. 16 in Kansas City, Mo. Led by hall-of-fame coach Haley, USC begins its journey there on Aug. 25 at LMU’s Gersten Pavilion.