Volleyball ventures back to the courts on October 28th to start 2023-24 season
Burlington, Ont. – It won't be long until the courts are conquered once again with pristine passes, sensational sets, and authoritative attacks, as the OUA is pleased to announce the 2023-24 women's and men's volleyball schedules.
2023 Women's Volleyball | FULL SCHEDULE
2023 Men's Volleyball | FULL SCHEDULE
Getting the festivities started for another season of OUA volleyball will be the Western Mustangs and TMU Bold, who will see their women's teams go head-to-head on October 28th, the first of two back-to-back meetings on opening weekend. And while those two talented teams will get out of the gates early, the rest of conference contingent will follow suit the next week, including the two-time defending Quigley Cup champion Badgers.
Brock will look to put their best foot forward to start their search for a three-peat, as they head to York for a battle with the Lions in their season opener on November 4th. The Lions, who bowed out to Brock in their semifinal battle a year ago, will look to avenge that loss and pick up where they left off after a strong finish to their previous campaign.
The same can be said for the York men's team, who like their fellow Lions, fell to the eventual OUA champions in their quest for the cup. Despite that season-ending loss, the red and white, backed by their first postseason win in eight years, will be on the prowl for another playoff push when they get their 2023-24 season underway.
After besting the Lions en route to back-to-back Forsyth Cup titles, meanwhile, the McMaster Marauders are also on the hunt for a third straight conference crown, and they'll kick off their championship quest on November 4th against fellow 2022-23 OUA medalist Toronto Varsity Blues. Toronto, who also faced off with the Marauders for the 2021-22 title, are coming off a bronze medal winning season that earned them a trip to nationals last month.
While several teams will first hit the courts on that same Saturday, an all-Kingston clash will be served up the day prior. RMC and Queen's, the latter finishing as finalists on the women's side a year ago following a five-set thriller against Brock, will continue their crosstown rivalry with both a men's and women's match on November 3rd. The Guelph Gryphons and Waterloo Warriors will also hit the court on opening night for a meeting between their men's teams.
Runners up on the men's side, the Windsor Lancers will join in on the fun on November 4th with a road tilt with TMU, but neither them nor the Gaels women will have to wait much longer before they get a chance to avenge their championship defeats. Week 3 of the season will see the most recent championship victors and vanquished go head-to-head, as the Marauders and Lancers serve up a home-and-home on November 17th and 18th, while the Badgers and Gaels do so with a back-to-back in Kingston on November 18th and 19th.
After five weeks of regular season play, capped off by an all-GTA tilt between the Blues and Lions on December 3rd, teams will head into the semester break. Just over a month later, this time with Toronto taking on Guelph on January 4th, the seven-week winter stretch of the season gets underway as teams turn their attention toward the ever-important playoff push as part of their respective 20-game seasons.
Upon seeing the 12-week slate come to a close on February 17th with four final matches on the men's side and five for the women, it will be identical postseason paths to look forward to for both the women and men.
This year's playoffs will commence with a play in game between the No. 8 and No. 9 seeds on Wednesday, February 21st. The winner of that will then earn the right to play the top-seeded squad, alongside the rest of the quarterfinal slate on February 24th (No. 7 vs. No. 2; No. 6 vs. No. 3; No. 5 vs. No. 4).
The final four teams meet up for semifinal play on Friday, March 1st, with the Quigley and Forsyth Cups then being awarded the following Friday on March 8th.
