The Western Illinois volleyball team announced their 2024 schedule on Thursday (Aug. 1) morning.
After their first postseason appearance in over a decade, Western Illinois starts year two in the Ohio Valley Conference with an instate battle, traveling to the Huskie Invitational. WIU will take on Northern Illinois to open the season before battling the Panthers of Milwaukee on Saturday (Aug. 31). The Leathernecks dropped their lone match with UWM last season in five sets.
Week two of the 2024 season takes WIU back home. They are set to host the Leatherneck Classic for the second year in a row. WIU will welcome back former Summit League opponent South Dakota State to open the three-game tournament. WIU will also battle Purdue Fort Wayne and the University of Illinois Chicago.
Western Illinois hits the road for the final two weeks of the non-conference schedule. The Leathernecks travel north to North Dakota, squaring up with the Belmont Bruins twice and facing the host North Dakota. The final non-conference tournament takes WIU to the East Coast, as Charleston Southern hosts the CSU tournament. The Leathernecks open the tournament with the host Charleston Southern before taking on Norfolk State and Sacred Heart.
For the second season in a row, Ohio Valley play starts against the Cougars of SIUE on Sept. 27—28th inside Western Hall. The Leathernecks defeated the Cougars in Edwardsville last season, clinching one of their eight conference wins. WIU wraps up its opening-week three-game homestand with a midweek matchup against Lindenwood. This will be the Lions’ first trip to Macomb.
WIU travels to Cookeville, Tenn., for its first road OVC series. In back-to-back matches, it will face the Golden Eagles of Tennessee Tech on October 3rd and 4th.
Action returns to Western Hall on October 10 and 11th as WIU hosts instate rival Eastern Illinois. WIU swept EIU in straight sets in 2022 before falling in both matches last season.
The Leathernecks wrap up the month of October with matches against Southern Indiana in Evansville, IN, on October 18th and 19th before welcoming UT Martin to Western Hall on October 25th-26th.
The Leathernecks will wrap up their regular season and play five of their final seven games on the road. The first half of the final seven games start on November 1st—2nd in Little Rock, Ark., when they battle the Trojans. WIU wraps up the three-game road trip with a day trip to Lindenwood on Nov. 5.
WIU wraps up their home slate against Morehead State on November 7th and 8th. WIU will recognize their senior class after the game on Nov. 7. The regular season ends in Nashville, TN, with back-to-back games against Tennessee State starting on Nov. 14.
Western Illinois will look to make their first back-to-back trip to postseason play since they went four years in a row from 2004-2007. The 2024 Ohio Valley Conference Championship will occur over three days, starting on Nov. 23 and ending on Nov. 26. The regular season champion will host. More details will be provided towards the end of the season.
