The defending national champion Nebraska volleyball team will play 19 regular-season home matches and will open the 2018 season at home against Florida in a rematch of the 2017 NCAA Championship match. The Huskers will play all 10 non-conference matches in the state of Nebraska, and the 19 regular-season home matches are NU’s most since volleyball became an NCAA-sanctioned sport in 1981.

The Huskers will open the regular season on Aug. 24 by hosting the VERT Challenge, which is in the final year of its four-year rotation. Nebraska will play Florida in a rematch of the 2017 NCAA Championship match, which the Huskers won 3-1 to capture their fifth national title in program history and second in the last three years. On Saturday, Aug. 25, Nebraska will host Oregon in the final match of the VERT Challenge. Times and television information for all matches will be announced at a later date.

The following weekend, Nebraska will play Ohio and Wake Forest on Friday, Aug. 31 as part of the Ameritas Players Challenge. On Saturday, Sept. 1, Nebraska will finish the tournament against Santa Clara.

The Huskers will travel to face Creighton at the CenturyLink Center on Thursday, Sept. 6. Nebraska will then return home to host Iowa State on Sunday, Sept. 9. Former Husker legend Sarah Pavan is set to have her jersey retired at that match, as she is also being inducted into the Nebraska Athletic Hall of Fame that weekend.

Nebraska’s final non-conference tournament, the Nebraska Invitational, will take place Sept. 14-15 at the Devaney Center. The Big Red will play Central Michigan and New Mexico on Sept. 14 before wrapping up the non-conference slate against Missouri State on Sept. 15.

The Huskers will again play 20 Big Ten conference matches as they go for their third-straight Big Ten title. Nebraska will play home-and-home matches against seven of the 13 Big Ten teams. The six opponents Nebraska will play just once will be: vs. Michigan State (Sept. 22), at Northwestern (Sept. 28), at Wisconsin (Oct. 19), vs. Rutgers (Nov. 3), at Purdue (Nov. 16) and vs. Maryland (Nov. 24).

The Huskers begin their Big Ten schedule by hosting Michigan and Michigan State on Sept. 21 and Sept. 22, respectively. Nebraska will make its first trip out of the state on Sept. 28-29 when they travel to play Northwestern and Illinois on back-to-back nights. Iowa will visit the Devaney Center on Wednesday, Oct. 3 to kick off three straight home matches, as Minnesota (Oct. 6) and Indiana (Oct. 10) also come to Lincoln.

Nebraska will spend the next two weeks on the road playing traditional Big Ten powers Penn State (Oct. 13), Wisconsin (Oct. 19), Minnesota (Oct. 20) and Ohio State (Oct. 24).

NU then welcomes Illinois (Oct. 27), Penn State (Nov. 2) and Rutgers (Nov. 3) to the Devaney Center before beginning another four-match road stretch at Iowa on Nov. 7. The Huskers will follow with matches at Michigan on Nov. 10, at Purdue on Nov. 16 and at Indiana on Nov. 17. Nebraska will close the regular season at home with back-to-back matches on Friday, Nov. 23 against Ohio State and Saturday, Nov. 24 against Maryland on Senior Night.

Nebraska will aim to host the NCAA Tournament First and Second Rounds for the 15th consecutive year on Nov. 30-Dec. 1. NCAA Regionals are set for Dec. 7-8 at the site of the top remaining seed in each region. The NCAA Semifinals and Championship will be held Dec. 13-15 at the Target Center in Minneapolis. The Huskers have made three straight final four appearances, a first in program history.