COLLEGE STATION, TX -- The Southeastern Conference released its 13-team volleyball schedule for the 2012 season.
The conference schedule consists of a 20-match season with matches being played on Fridays and Sundays with the exception of the final weekend. Texas A&M, which officially joins the SEC on July 1, will play home-and-home matches against Alabama, Arkansas, Auburn, Kentucky, Ole Miss, Missouri, South Carolina and Tennessee. A&M will have only one meeting against the remaining conference schools: Georgia, Florida, LSU and Mississippi State. Vanderbilt does not compete in volleyball.
The Aggies will compete in the Western Division and will play their first-ever SEC match Friday, Sept. 14 against Ole Miss at Reed Arena. A&M will play a total of 10 conference matches at Reed and 10 SEC matches on the road.
The 2012-13 schedule is not based on any other previous or future scheduling formats. The SEC Athletics Directors are currently formulating scheduling principles for the 2013-14 season and beyond.
Three SEC teams were ranked in the 2011 AVCA Final Top 25 Poll: No. 11 Florida, No. 13 Kentucky and No. 19 Tennessee. Five of the 2012 SEC members participated in the NCAA Championship tournament, with the Gators advancing to the NCAA Elite Eight. Kentucky reached the Round of 16 after knocking off A&M in the second round. Tennessee also reached the second round, and Missouri was eliminated by Florida in the first round.
The A&M conference schedule is listed below. A&M’s complete 2012 season schedule will be released at a later date.
The complete conference schedule can be found on the SEC’s official website, SECDigitalNetwork.com.
Sept. 14
Ole Miss at Texas A&M
Sept. 16
Auburn at Texas A&M
Sept. 21
Bye
Sept. 23
Kentucky at Texas A&M
Sept. 28
Texas A&M at Missouri
Sept. 30
Texas A&M at Alabama
Oct. 5
South Carolina at Texas A&M
Oct. 7
Mississippi State at Texas A&M
Oct. 12
Texas A&M at Arkansas
Oct. 14
Texas A&M at Kentucky
Oct. 19
Tennessee at Texas A&M
Oct. 21
Florida at Texas A&M
Oct. 26
Texas A&M at LSU
Oct. 28
Texas A&M at South Carolina
Nov. 2
Alabama at Texas A&M
Nov. 4
Arkansas at Texas A&M
Nov. 9
Texas A&M at Auburn
Nov. 11
Texas A&M at Georgia
Nov. 16
Missouri at Texas A&M
Nov. 18
Bye
Nov. 21 (Wednesday)
Texas A&M at Tennessee
Nov. 23 (Friday)
Texas A&M at Ole Miss