STATESBORO – A home exhibition match against an old rival, a home tournament and seven Sun Belt contests in Hanner Fieldhouse highlight the 2019 Georgia Southern volleyball schedule, announced by head coach Chad Willis today.

The Eagles open the campaign Aug. 18 by hosting former Southern Conference rival College of Charleston in an exhibition match. The Eagles begin the tournament portion of their schedule at the Mercer Bear Classic Aug. 30-31, before traveling to the Bash at the Beach at Bethune-Cookman Sept. 6-7.

GS hosts the Southern Invitational, featuring six matches over two days with UNC Asheville, Southern Miss. and Winthrop, in Hanner Fieldhouse Sept. 13-14. A single match at North Florida Sept. 17 and three contests at the Tennessee Classic Sept. 20-21 round out the non-conference slate.

"The 2019 schedule is an exciting one for us in our first year here," said Willis. "Our non-conference portion presents a fair balance of opportunities and challenges each weekend to start the season. Three weekends on the road - 10 matches away from Hanner - will be a tough task but will ultimately mentally and physically prepare us for grind of conference play."

GS plays home-and-home series with all five of their Sun Belt Conference East Division counterparts – Appalachian State, Coastal Carolina, Troy, South Alabama and Georgia State. The Eagles open SBC play with a pair of matches at Appalachian State and Coastal Carolina Sept. 27 and 29 and play their first conference home matches Oct. 4-5 vs. Troy and South Alabama. 

The Eagles square off against teams from the West Division – Louisiana, ULM, Texas State, UTA, Little Rock and Arkansas State once. Matches against the Texas schools and Arkansas schools will be on the road, while GS takes on Louisiana and ULM in Hanner Fieldhouse Oct. 17-18. The regular season concludes with a home-and-home against in-state rival Georgia State. The Eagles host the Panthers Nov. 12 and play in Atlanta Nov. 15.

"The Sun Belt Conference continues to excel in volleyball, there's a lot of parody top to bottom and we understand the time and effort that goes into preparing for every opponent," said Willis. "It's a league full of talented players and great coaches. We're looking forward to making our mark and excited for the opportunities ahead."

Georgia Southern is set to return 13 letterwinners and four starters to the 2019 team.

Season tickets are $50, and single-match tickets are $5-8 and $3-5 for youth ages 4-12. Group tickets for groups of 15 or more are available for $3 each and must be purchased prior to game day.