VILLANOVA, Pa. – Fresh off the program's first ever foreign tour, head coach Josh Steinbach unveiled Villanova volleyball's 2024 schedule on Wednesday with 29 matches, four non-conference tournaments and 18 league bouts awaiting the Wildcats in their bid to reach the BIG EAST Tournament for a second straight year.
The campaign will begin with a renewal of last year's Catholic Challenge, this time in California at the home of Santa Clara. VU will take on the host Broncos as well as Notre Dame before kicking off the home slate with a midweek against Binghamton on September 4.
The Wildcats will then host the Villanova Classic with Loyola Maryland, Old Dominion and Princeton coming to Jake Nevin Field House as six total and three Villanova matches are planned for Sept. 6-8.
VU will then travel up to Connecticut for bouts at Yale and Fairfield with a neutral site matchup against Colgate also on tap.
A tournament on the Main Line will round out the non-conference schedule on Sept. 20-21 as Villanova will take on Temple followed by either Rhode Island or Marist depending on Friday's results.
BIG EAST play begins the last weekend of September with the 'Cats hosting Georgetown to open the conference calendar before visiting Seton Hall the following day.
Villanova then heads to the Midwest with trips to DePaul and Xavier in early October before hosting a pair of 2023 NCAA Tournament teams in Creighton (Oct. 11) and Marquette (Oct. 13).
A visit to New England awaits the 'Cats after that home weekend with bouts at UConn and Providence. It's a wonky week to follow that with a Wednesday visit to Queens for a St. John's matchup before a Saturday contest at home opposite Butler.
The final multi-game road trip will come the opening week of November with excursions to Marquette and Creighton in that stretch.
The Wildcats will finish out their 2024 regular season slate with five home games out of the final six, welcoming Xavier, DePaul, St. John's, Providence and Connecticut from Nov. 8-23 with the lone road contest coming at Butler on the 16th.
This year's BIG EAST Championship will be hosted by the Creighton Bluejays with the league's top six finishers headed to Omaha for three days of competition from Nov. 27-30.
