GLENDALE, Wis. -- The Augustana Vikings men's volleyball team opens their 2023 season on Saturday, January 20, when they travel to lower Wisconsin for a set of matches against the MSOE Raiders and No. 7 ranked SUNY New Paltz Hawks.

The Vikings, one of the youngest teams in the league, had a 7-17 overall record and a 3-9 CCIW record at the end of the 2022 season. Augie defeated conference rival Millikin 3-0 to cap off their season on a high note. The team returns 14 members from last year's team, including Aidan Bolen, Max Sellers, and Matthew Degnan, who led the Vikings in kills, digs, and assists in 2022, respectively. All four of their top kill leaders from a season ago return. The Vikings enter their sixth season in its short program history, led by head coach Mike Ducey, who is in his fourth year leading the team.

The Vikings will face the host school MSOE to kick off Saturday's matches. The Raiders finished the 2022 campaign with a 16-10 record, also finding success in the Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference with a 9-3 mark. The team closed their season with a 1-1 record in the NACC tournament, winning their first game handily before falling out of the tournament to No. 1 Dominican. The Raiders were ranked sixth in the NACC men's volleyball poll for this upcoming season. In the all-time series, the Raiders lead the Vikings 4-0, with their last matchup resulting in an Augie home defeat on January 28, 2022.

Augie will compete against the No. 7-ranked SUNY New Paltz Hawks in their second matchup. The storied program, which has been around since 1970, swept Illinois Tech 3-0 on Wednesday to open its 2023 campaign. The Vikings and Hawks have played just once before, resulting in a 3-0 victory for New Paltz on February 23, 2019.

Start time is scheduled for 12:00 p.m. for the first set of the tri-match and 3:00 p.m. for the second contest. Follow along with live stats here.