AUBURN, Ala. – Returning to the court for the third season of the Brent Crouch era, Auburn volleyball released its 2022 schedule on Tuesday.
"We are going to have a young, talented squad this year, perhaps one of the youngest in the country," Crouch said. "I expect multiple freshmen to have major and probably starting roles. Accordingly, we have scheduled knowing that we need some early time on the road to connect and team build, a process that happens faster on road trips. I also expect our team to be substantially improved as the year progresses in tandem with the development of the freshmen and sophomores. Our preseason schedule sets us up for that development, and we will be ready for the rigors of the SEC season while we compete against many of the best teams in the NCAA. This will be an exciting year!"
Auburn opens the season on the road, participating in a tournament hosted by Georgia State in Atlanta. The Tigers open the tournament on Friday, August 26, facing Belmont and the host Panthers. Auburn then faces Marist on Saturday, August 27.
The Tigers open their home slate with a pair of midweek matches, beginning with Alabama State on Wednesday, August 31. Auburn welcomes Alabama A&M to Neville Arena on Tuesday, Sept. 6.
Rounding out nonconference action with a pair of road tournaments, Auburn first travels to Birmingham, Ala., on Sept. 9-11 for a tournament at UAB. Auburn is slated to face the Blazers, Troy and North Florida. The Tigers then travel to Jacksonville, Alabama, on Sept. 16 and 17 to compete in the JSU Invitational against Southern Miss, Jackson State and Jacksonville State.
The Southeastern Conference schedule consists of 18 matches in which each member institution will play each other at least once. Auburn opens conference play in hostile territory with a two-match series at Alabama on Sept. 24-25 before returning to the Plains to host Mississippi State on Wednesday, Sept. 28.
October features four home matches for the Tigers as Auburn hosts Georgia for a two-match series on Oct. 8-9. The Tigers are also scheduled for matches against Tennessee on Friday, Oct. 21 and Florida on Wednesday, Oct. 26.
The Tigers travel to LSU on Wednesday, Oct. 5 and also hit the road for a pair of two-matches series at Missouri (Oct. 15-16) and Kentucky (Oct. 29-30).
Kicking off the final month of the regular season at Neville Arena, Auburn hosts Texas A&M for a pair of matches on Nov. 5 and 6.
Auburn's lone road matches of the month are single contests at Ole Miss on Friday, Nov. 11 and at South Carolina on Wednesday, Nov. 23.
The Tigers conclude the season with a pair of home matches against Arkansas on Nov. 25 and 26.
The 2022 NCAA Championship is scheduled for Dec. 15-17 at the CHI Health Center Omaha in Omaha, Nebraska. Dates and locations for the first and second rounds of postseason play as well as regional championships will be announced later by the NCAA.
TV broadcast information will be released closer to the start of the season.