Musketeers Open 2024 Season at Bobcat Invitational

ATHENS, Ohio - The Xavier volleyball team opens the 2024 season on the road at the Bobcat Invitational hosted by Ohio University. Xavier and App State will play the tournament opener at 10:30 a.m. on Friday. The Musketeers will also face off against Ohio on Friday evening and Wright State Saturday morning. All three matches will be available on ESPN+.

GAME INFORMATION

AUGUST 30

Xavier vs. App State - 10:30 a.m.
- Live Stats - bit.ly/3Z2Er70
App State vs. Wright State - 4:30 p.m.
Xavier at Ohio - 6:30 p.m.
- Live Stats - bit.ly/4e28oID

AUGUST 31

Xavier vs. Wright State - 10:30 a.m.
- Live Stats - bit.ly/4dX51U1
Ohio vs. App State - 1:00 p.m.
Ohio vs. Wright State - 7:00 p.m.

About The Musketeers

Xavier returns eight contributors from last year's 18-12 squad that finished fourth in the BIG EAST regular standings and made the program's second consecutive appearance in the conference tournament.

Head coach Christy Pfeffenberger enters her 10th year at the helm of the program and brought five newcomers to the 2024 squad with the additions of McKinley Boehm, Ila DeMutis, Catherine Flaharty, Charlotte Moriarty and Kelsey Niesen.

The Musketeers were picked to finish sixth in the 2024 BIG EAST Preseason poll.

Scouting the mountaineers

Xavier will play App State for just the third time in program history and the first time since 2003.

The Musketeers hold a 2-0 record over the Mountaineers.

App State finished sixth in the East division of the Sun Belt last season and were picked to finish fifth in the division ahead of this season with one preseason all-conference selection in middle blocker Maya Winterhoff.

scouting the bobcats

Xavier and Ohio are even at 10-10 in series history with the Musketeers winning the most recent matchup, 3-1, in the 2022 NIVC Tournament.

Ohio finished second in the MAC East Divison last season, earning the No. 4 seed in the conference tournament.

The Bobcats were picked to finish fifth in the 2024 MAC preseason poll with Anna Kharchynska earning a spot on the Preseason All-MAC Team.

scouting the raiders

Wright State holds a 19-10 sereies record over the Musketeers after Xavier lost the most recent matchup at home in the 2019 Xavier Tournament where the Raiders swept all three matches.

Wright State was picked atop the Horizon League ahead of the 2024 season after winning the conference championship for the second straight year.

The Raiders return two second-team all-conference players, Jenny Wessling and Reilly Zegunis, who was also named to the All-Freshman team.

Schedule notes

The Musketeers will play six games on the road to open the season between this weekend's Bobcat Invitational and the Billiken Invitational next weekend in St. Louis, Mo.

Xavier will face crosstown rival Cincinnati for their home opener on Sept. 12 and Kent State on Sept. 13.

The Musketeers then take a short trip across state lines to wrap up the preseason at the NKU Invitational on Sept. 19-20 to face Northern Kentucky and Miami (Ohio).

BIG EAST play will begin on the road for the Musketeers at DePaul on Sept. 25. Butler will visit Cintas Center for Xavier's BIG EAST home opener on Sept. 28.

Xavier wraps up the regular season with matches at home against Marquette and Creighton, two NCAA Tournament teams.

The BIG EAST tournament will take place in Omaha, Neb. from Nov. 27-30.

Big east preseason poll

1. Creighton (10) 100*
2. Marquette 91
3. St. John's 80
4. DePaul 74
5. Butler 58
6. Xavier 49
7. Seton Hall 40
8. Villanova 39
9. UConn 33
10. Georgetown 27
11. Providence 14

Schedule

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