2017 Courtyard by Marriott Invitational
Daily Match Schedule
 
Friday, Aug. 25
10:00 a.m. (CT) - - Ohio vs. Murray State - - Live Stats
12:30 p.m. (CT) - - Samford vs. Southeastern Louisiana - - Live Video  |  Live Stats
4:30 p.m. (CT) - - Murray State vs. Southeastern Louisiana - - Live Stats
7:00 p.m. (CT) - - Samford vs. Ohio - - Live Video  |  Live Stats
 
Saturday, Aug. 26
1:00 p.m. (CT) - - Southeastern Louisiana vs. Ohio - - Live Stats
3:30 p.m. (CT) - - Samford vs. Murray State - - Live Video  |  Live Stats

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- The Samford University volleyball team will begin play in its highly-anticipated 2017 season Friday at 12:30 p.m. (CT) as the Bulldogs host the annual Courtyard by Marriott Invitational and will square off against the Southeastern Louisiana Lions in the Pete Hanna Center.
 
Samford will then meet the Ohio Bobcats at 7 p.m., on Friday before closing out the four-team, two-day tournament Saturday at 3:30 p.m., against the Murray State Racers.
 
Admission is FREE for every match of the 2017 Courtyard by Marriott Invitational.
 
Last week, the Bulldogs were predicted to finish tied for third place in the Southern Conference regular-season standings this year as the league office released the coaches' annual preseason rankings.
 
Last year, in Head Coach Keylor Chan's first season at the helm of the Samford volleyball program, the Bulldogs won the SoCon Tournament and advanced to the NCAA Tournament where they battled the No. 4-ranked Kansas Jayhawks. Samford finished the campaign with a 21-14 overall record, as well as a 9-7 mark in conference play.
 
Samford comes into the 2017 season after claiming the 2016 volleyball title on its home court, knocking off No. 1 seed ETSU in the semifinals and No. 3 seed Chattanooga in the finals to claim its third conference title.
 
Last year, the Bulldogs competed in their third NCAA Tournament in the last six seasons. Samford proved to be dominant at home throughout the 2016 campaign and compiled a 14-3 record when competing on campus. The Bulldogs concluded the season as the 10^th-ranked squad in the nation in team kills (1,693) and No. 14 in the country in team assists (1,570).
 
In 2016, Samford concluded Chan's inaugural season at the helm with the school's sixth best winning percentage in 39 years of the program's existence.
 
Southeastern Louisiana closed out last year with a 7-23 overall record and a 6-10 mark in Southland Conference play. Head Coach Jim Smoot will begin his fourth season at the helm Friday.
 
Ohio finished its 2016 campaign with a 25-8 overall record, a 13-3 mark in Mid-American Conference action and earned an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament, where the Bobcats faced BYU in the opening round of the competition. Last season, Ohio swept Utah, 3-0, Seton Hall, 3-0, LSU, 3-0, VCU, 3-0, and also earned key wins against Kentucky, 3-1, and Xavier, 3-2.
 
Murray State won its third consecutive Ohio Valley Conference regular-season title in 2016, becoming just the sixth team in conference history to win three straight league crowns. The Racers also won their second OVC Tournament in the past three seasons and faced UCLA in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
 
Additionally, Murray State became the first team in program history to win a set at the NCAAs, winning the opening set against the Bruins, 25-21, before eventually losing the match in four sets. The Racers finished the season with a 23-9 overall record and also went 15-1 in league play for the second consecutive year.
 
Following this week's 2017 Courtyard by Marriott Invitational, the Samford University volleyball team will next be in action Sept. 1, as the Bulldogs begin play in the Loyola-Chicago Invite on the road in Chicago, Ill., against the Milwaukee Panthers at 8 p.m. (CT).
 
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