KALAMAZOO, Mich. – Three meetings with teams that ranked in the final 2014 American Volleyball Coaches' Association poll, as well as a total of six teams that made the 2014 NCAA Tournament field, highlight the 2015 Western Michigan volleyball schedule that was announced today. The Broncos will play 31 regular season matches in 2015, hosting eight Mid-American Conference home matches and a non-conference date against IPFW, and will also hold their annual Alumni Match exhibition to open the home slate.

The Broncos will play in four in-season tournaments over the course of non-conference play, and in two of them they will face off against teams that finished last season ranked in the AVCA Top 25 poll. After competing in a tournament hosted by UW-Milwaukee and playing the official home opener against IPFW on Sept. 1, the Broncos will head west to face Arizona State (#22), Colorado State (#12), and NCAA Tournament participant Northern Colorado in a tournament jointly hosted by the Rams and the Bears. WMU will finish the weekend with a match at another NCAA Tournament participant, Denver, on Sept. 6.

WMU returns to the state of Michigan for matches against Michigan, Pittsburgh and South Carolina in Ann Arbor in a tournament hosted by the Wolverines, and the Broncos will return to the east side of the state for a four-match slate in Rochester the next weekend. After facing NCAA Tournament participant Oakland on Oct. 17 the Broncos will play in a tournament hosted by the Golden Grizzlies, facing among others the Ohio State Buckeyes, who finished the 2014 season ranked 13th in the nation.

MAC play commences for the Broncos on Sept. 25 with a big weekend against in-state rivals, as WMU will host Eastern Michigan (Sept. 25) and Central Michigan (Sept. 26) at University Arena to begin the defense of their MAC Tournament championship. The Broncos host Northern Illinois (Oct. 8) and Bowling Green (Oct. 10) in the second MAC home weekend of the year, and welcome reigning MAC regular season champion Ohio (Oct. 23) as well as Kent State (Oct. 24) in the third. The Broncos wrap their home slate with Ball State (Nov. 6) and Toledo (Nov. 7) and close the regular season with their last two matches on the road.

A full, printable version of this schedule is attached.