PULLMAN, Wash. – The Washington State University volleyball program published its 2018 schedule and the Cougars will have 12 matches televised this fall, the Pac-12 Networks announced Monday.
 
Jen Greeny begins her eighth season as head coach at WSU. All-Pac-12 player Taylor Mims joins four other returning starters and 10 letterwinners back from the 2017 squad that advanced to the NCAA Championship Second Round for the second consecutive year before falling to national champion Nebraska in Lincoln. In the 2018 Way-Too-Early VolleyMob.com Top 25 Power Rankings, the Cougars were selected 27th.
 
WSU's non-conference schedule includes four teams that played in the 2017 NCAA Championship in VCU, North Carolina State, Stony Brook and Western Kentucky, and two of those teams (NC State, Western Kentucky) advanced to the second round. Before the Pac-12 Conference action begins, the Cougars meet four teams with RPIs in the top 50 nationally and six of the nine non-conference opponents had RPIs at 91 or lower last year with WSU ending the season at 38th.
 
The Cougars open the 2018 volleyball season Aug. 25 and 26 at Raleigh, NC, taking on Virginia Commonwealth and NC State before heading to Cedar Falls, Iowa, the following weekend to take on Northern Iowa twice. WSU returns to the Palouse for the Cougar Challenge tournament, held in Bohler Gym Sept. 7-8, hosting teams from McNeese State, Illinois State and Stony Brook. The preconference schedule wraps up Sept. 14-15, at Bowling Green, Kentucky, for a tournament taking on Northern Illinois, East Tennessee State and the host team, Western Kentucky.
 
It will be another year of tough competition in the Pac-12 Conference which had nine members compete in the 2017 NCAA Championship tournament. WSU's opening Pac-12 match for the 2018 season will be on the road at cross-state rival Washington, Thursday, Sept. 20, with the 8 p.m. contest to be televised live on the Pac-12 Networks. The Cougars' first home conference contest is Friday, Sept. 28, versus Utah. WSU will have Friday/Sunday home volleyball matches during the home football weekends of Sept. 29, Nov. 3, Nov. 17, and will play Washington in Bohler Gym the day after the Nov. 23 Apple Cup football game.
 
The Pac-12 Networks will broadcast 88 women's volleyball matches in this, its seventh year of operations.
 
Season tickets for volleyball are on sale now and to renew season tickets or to buy tickets please go to https://bit.ly/2ylwE9Q.