The University of Delaware volleyball team will face five NCAA Division I championship tournament squads during the 2016 season.

Delaware, led by 15th-year head coach Bonnie Kenny, will play 12 home matches in the Bob Carpenter Center and once again will host the Delaware Invitational, which is scheduled Sept. 16-17.

The Blue Hens, who return four starters and 10 letter winners from last year’s team that finished 12-17 overall and 4-12 in Colonial Athletic Association competition, will open the season with three matches at the Navy Kristen Dickmann Classic on Aug. 26-27. The tournament is highlighted by a matchup against New Hampshire, which won last year’s America East Conference championship and participated in the NCAA tournament.

The following weekend, UD will play three matches at the Florida Gulf Coast Tournament. The Blue Hens will open up against New Orleans on Sept. 2 before playing the host Eagles later in the day, followed by a matchup with Virginia Commonwealth University the following afternoon.

UD will conclude its road tournament schedule with three matches at the North Carolina State Tournament on Sept. 9-10. The invitational will offer one of the Blue Hens’ toughest tests of the season, with their tournament-opening match against Southern Methodist University. SMU’s 2015 season was highlighted by an American Athletic Conference championship and NCAA tournament berth. SMU also received votes in the final AVCA Coaches Poll to close out the year.

The Blue Hens will then once again host the Delaware Invitational, this year featuring Duquesne, Missouri, and Miami (Fla.) as the opposition. Missouri in particular will provide UD with a tough test, having advanced to the second round of the NCAA tournament last year. Additionally, the Tigers earned the No. 25 ranking in the final AVCA Coaches Poll and were tied for second in the Southeastern Conference standings. Miami will also be a formidable opponent, as the Hurricanes participated in the NCAA tournament last year and ended their regular season tied for fourth in the Atlantic Coast Conference standings.

Following a midweek home match against Penn on Sept. 20, UD will open up Colonial Athletic Association play with a Friday night matchup against Towson on Sept. 23. The match against the Tigers will be the first of four straight conference games to be played at the Bob Carpenter Center, a stretch that also includes the University of North Carolina-Wilmington (UNCW) on Sept. 29, Elon on Oct. 1 and the College of Charleston on Oct. 2. Conference play then continues on the road with matches against Hofstra on Oct. 8 and Northeastern on Oct 10.

The Blue Hens then return home with matchups against William and Mary on Oct. 14 and James Madison University (JMU) on Oct. 16 before hitting the road once more for four matches against the College of Charleston (Oct. 21), UNCW (Oct. 23), Towson (Oct. 26) and Elon (Oct. 30).

UD wraps up its home schedule against Northeastern on Nov. 4 and Hofstra on Nov. 6, before playing at JMU on Nov. 11 and William and Mary on Nov. 12 in its final regular season road trip of the year.

Following the regular season, the six-team CAA tournament will be played from Nov. 17-20 on the campus of UNCW.

“Once again we will have a challenging preseason schedule that I am confident will prepare us for our competitive CAA season,” said Kenny. “We will be challenged by several NCAA teams and will use this as an opportunity to prepare us to reach postseason play."

The Blue Hens will be led by senior middle hitter Alexa Swann, UD’s career leader with 1.13 blocks per set who led the squad with 128 blocks and ranked third with 246 kills a year ago. Senior outside hitter Autumn Jenkins also returns after leading Delaware with 292 kills and ranking second with 301 digs during the 2015 campaign.

Classmates Julia Anderson, who was fourth in the CAA with 8.85 assists per set, and Taylor Hollingsworth, who ranked third on the team with 256 digs, are also back for the Blue Hens.