NEW ORLEANS – The 41st season of Sun Belt volleyball begins this week as each of the conference’s 14 teams will play their first league match of the year on either Thursday or Friday. A key East Division showdown between App State and James Madison highlights the opening-week schedule.
 
Each of the Sun Belt’s volleyball teams will play a 16-game regular-season league schedule. Each program will face each of its divisional foes and two opponents from the opposite division. All match-ups include two contests on back-to-back days. The Sun Belt Tournament will be seeded based on conference win percentage within the division only.  
 
The Sun Belt volleyball season culminates at the 2023 Sun Belt Volleyball Championship to be contested November 15-19 at the Foley Sports Tourism Complex in Foley, Ala. This will mark the fourth consecutive year the event will be held in Foley.
 
WHAT TO WATCH FOR:

• PRESEASON PREDICTIONS: In the Sun Belt Preseason Coaches Poll, James Madison was selected as the favorite in the Sun Belt East Division with 13 first-place votes, while App State was second with one first-place vote. South Alabama was picked to top the Sun Belt West Division with 10 first-place votes, while Texas State had three first-place votes and Arkansas State one.
• BEATING THE RANKED: Sun Belt volleyball teams have three wins against AVCA Top-25 opponents this season, all coming in the form of sweeps. Louisiana defeated No. 18 Rice on August 29, James Madison topped No. 22 Western Kentucky on September 2 and Texas State beat No. 13 Houston on September 2.
• START IT UP: Three Sun Belt volleyball programs are off to historic starts to the 2023 season. Georgia Southern, which enters conference play at 10-1, has recorded the best start in program history. App State, under the direction of second-year head coach Sarah Rumely Noble, is 9-2 and making its best start to a season since 2014. Arkansas State, led by second-year head coach Brian Gerwig, is 10-2, which marks the program’s best start since 2015.
• TOPPING THE LIST: The Sun Belt leads all NCAA Division I conferences in five statistical categories: kills (7,729), assists (7,164), service aces (1,032), digs (9,086) and points (10,057).
• DO YOU NEED SOME ASSISTANCE: Four of the top-25 total assist leaders in the country reside in the Sun Belt Conference. Louisiana setter Siena DeCambra leads the nation with 525 assists on the season. South Alabama’s Kailey Keeble is 11th nationally with 474, Old Dominion’s Teresa Atilano is 13th with 466 and Arkansas State’s Erin Madigan is 23rd with 444.

 
WHERE TO WATCH
 

Date	Game	Time	Broadcast
Thursday, September 21	Old Dominion at Marshall	5:00 p.m. CT	ESPN+
Thursday, September 21	Troy at Louisiana	6:00 p.m. CT	ESPN+
Thursday, September 21	ULM at Texas State	6:00 p.m. CT	ESPN+
Thursday, September 21	Southern Miss at South Alabama	6:00 p.m. CT	ESPN+
Friday, September 22	James Madison at App State	5:00 p.m. CT	ESPN+
Friday, September 22	Arkansas State at Georgia Southern	5:00 p.m. CT	ESPN+
Friday, September 22	Coastal Carolina at Georgia State	5:00 p.m. CT	ESPN+
Friday, September 22	Old Dominion at Marshall	5:00 p.m. CT	ESPN+
Friday, September 22	Troy at Louisiana	6:00 p.m. CT	ESPN+
Friday, September 22	ULM at Texas State	6:00 p.m. CT	ESPN+
Friday, September 22	Southern Miss at South Alabama	6:00 p.m. CT	ESPN+
Saturday, September 23	James Madison at App State	12:00 p.m. CT	ESPN+
Saturday, September 23	Arkansas State at Georgia Southern	12:00 p.m. CT	ESPN+
Saturday, September 23	Coastal Carolina at Georgia State	12:00 p.m. CT	ESPN+