NEW HAVEN, Conn. – The defending Ivy League champion Yale Volleyball program will travel to Chicago and West Point, N.Y., as part of a challenging 2023 schedule announced today.

"We are very excited about the up-coming season and schedule," said Erin Appleman, Yale's head coach and reigning Ivy League Coach of the Year.  "As returning champions, it offers the challenges needed to get ready for an always-competitive conference season."

The Bulldogs last fall captured the Ivy League title for the fourth time and five seasons and 12th time overall.  Yale will open the season and begin the defense of its latest championship at the Black Knights Invitational on Sept. 1. 

The Bulldogs will open against High Point -- a NCAA Tournament team last season -- on Friday, Sept. 1.  The next day, Yale takes on Liberty and closes out the weekend Sept. 3 with a match against host Army.

The 2023 Yale Invitational features Sacred Heart, Rhode Island and UConn.  The Bulldogs' home-opener will be against Sacred Heart on Sept. 8 at 7 p.m., and the tournament will conclude with two matches on Saturday against Rhode Island (1 p.m.) and UConn (7 p.m.).

The next weekend, Yale will play road games in the Chicago area.  The Bulldogs will play at Northwestern on Sept. 15 and travel to defending A-10 champions Loyola-Chicago the next day.

Yale plays its first three Ivy League matches at home starting with Brown on Sept. 22.  The next weekend Yale will host Penn and Princeton. 

The Bulldogs open the road portion of the Ivy League schedule at Cornell on Oct. 6.  From there, six of the next eight matches will be on road.

The Ivy League regular season concludes with two home matches.  Yale will host Columbia on Nov. 10, and will celebrate senior night on Nov. 11 against Cornell. 

The conference postseason tournament will take place Nov. 17-19 at a site to be determined.  Yale hosted and won last season's tournament as the No. 1 seed with a 13-1 conference mark. 

Yale finished 2022 with a 23-3 overall record and advanced to the NCAA Tournament for the eight time in school history.  The Bulldogs return five All-Ivy selections from 2022, including this year's team captain Maile Somera.