UMHB Volleyball announces 2024 schedule, Cru will open the season on the West Coast

BELTON–In the quest to defend its 2023 ASC regular season title, the UMHB volleyball program will play a wide variety of competition in the 2024 regular season, with trips to Oregon and Wisconsin in the first two weeks of the season, as well as matches against opponents from seven different conferences. The 2024 slate was officially released on Thursday. 

The 2024 campaign for The Cru begins in Oregon, as UMHB will play four matches against NWC opponents Aug. 30-31. Head coach Mark Pryor’s squad will face Linfield and Pacific on Friday in Portland, battling each program for just the second time in UMHB history, before taking on George Fox and Willamette on Saturday in Newberg. George Fox and Willamette each qualified for the inaugural Northwest Conference Volleyball Tournament last season, with GFU advancing to the championship match. 

Another flight, this time to Superior, Wisconsin, follows the West Coast trip, as UMHB heads to the Upper Midwest. Playing in a classic hosted by UW-Superior, the Crusaders are scheduled to face St. Scholastica for the first time in program history on Sept. 6. Later that day, UMHB gets UW-Superior, who finished third in the UMAC in 2023, with a 10-4 conference mark and a 19-11 overall record. Martin Luther College, also out of the UMAC, and Hamline, who plays in the MIAC, are UMHB’s opponents on Sept. 7. 

Conference play begins just three days later. Howard Payne comes to Belton on Sept. 10, followed by Hardin-Simmons on Sept. 12. Action continues the following day in Belton at UMHB’s own classic, as The Cru battles Hendrix at 11:30 a.m. on Sept. 13. Matches against UDallas, St. Thomas (TX), and Southwestern follow over the course of Friday and Saturday. In all, UMHB will play five matches in a three-day span on their home court. 

Despite their close proximity, this will be the first time since 2019 that UMHB and Southwestern have played, with UMHB having won the last two meetings. Since 1999, Southwestern leads the all-time series, 17-6. Additionally, The Cru will play Hendrix for the third consecutive year and will face St. Thomas for the first time since 2018. The match against UDallas marks the first time since 2005 that the two programs will meet in Belton. 

That stretch will be UMHB’s final homestand until mid-October, with nine consecutive road matches, including ASC duels against LeTourneau, ETBU, Howard Payne, and Hardin-Simmons. Non-conference matches against Concordia (TX), Hendrix, Rhodes, UT-Dallas (as the Comets transition to Division II)  and Austin College will also be played in that span. 

When they do return to the Mayborn Campus Center, it will be for a premier home match against ETBU. The Tigers won the 2023 ASC Tournament championship, and will face The Cru on Oct. 18 at 6 p.m., with a match against LeTourneau set for the following day. Contests against Schreiner, UT-Dallas, UC-Santa Cruz, and St. Thomas (TX) close out the regular season.

2024 UMHB Volleyball Schedule