GREEN BAY, Wis. (GreenBayPhoenix.com) - The Green Bay volleyball team will host 13 matches at the Kress Center this fall as part of a 28-match schedule released Wednesday by head coach Debbie Kirch. Including the season-opening Green Bay/Country Inn & Suites Tournament, the Phoenix will open with four-straight home matches.

The Green Bay/Country Inn & Suites Tournament, held on Aug. 26-27, will pit the Phoenix against James Madison, North Dakota and Dayton. Green Bay then welcomes Northern Illinois to the Kress Center on Aug. 30 to conclude the season-opening homestand.

"It's great to have our home tournament back and we are excited to open in Green Bay and about the quality of teams we have in the field," said Kirch. "Dayton not only has been a perennial NCAA tournament team, but also hosted a regional last year, so it's great to have a chance to play them in the Kress Center. Both North Dakota and James Madison will be strong early opponents as well."

Season tickets and Fall Sports Passes are now on sale for volleyball and men's and women's soccer. Season tickets for each sport are available for $25 each, or a Fall Sports Pass can be purchased for admission to all three sports for just $50 for an adult and $25 for a youth pass. For more information and an order form, click here.

September opens with back-to-back tournaments with the Phoenix traveling to the North Dakota Invite on Sept. 2-3 and the Saluki Invitational at Southern Illinois on Sept. 9-10. Green Bay will play Southern Utah, North Dakota and Montana in North Dakota and Memphis, Southern Illinois and Murray State at the SIU tournament.

The final two non-conference tilts are sandwiched around three Horizon League contests. Green Bay travels to Milwaukee to play at Marquette on Sept. 13 and to Chicago to face Chicago State on Sept. 27.

"With two more strong tournaments and meetings with Northern Illinois, Marquette and Chicago State, we have a great non-conference schedule that will prepare us for Horizon League play," said Kirch.

Green Bay will play 16 conference matches - playing each league opponent twice - and opens Horizon League play at rival Milwaukee on Sept. 16. That precedes home matches against Valpo and UIC on Sept. 23-24 before the month ends with a league match at Loyola on Sept. 30.

The October schedule includes eight matches with an even four apiece played at home and away. Cleveland State and Youngstown State visit the Kress Center on Oct. 4-5, Milwaukee makes a return trip to Green Bay on Oct. 15 and the team closes out the month by hosting Loyola on Oct. 28.

The Phoenix opens November by welcoming Butler (Nov. 3) and Wright State (Nov. 5) to the Kress Center before concluding the regular season at Youngstown State and Cleveland State Nov. 11-12.

The Horizon League Championships will be held on the regular season champion's home floor Nov. 18-20.

Kirch returns 14 players from the 2010 squad, but will be looking for sophomore Leah Poel (Jenison, Mich.) to replace graduated setter Whitney Schott (Roscoe, Ill.). Among the top returning starters are senior Abbey Gitter (Hortonville, Wis.), juniors Brittany Groth (Oak Creek, Wis.) and Carmen Leitermann (Schofield, Wis.) and sophomore Lyndsay Zabkowicz (Oak Creek, Wis.), who was named to the Horizon League All-Freshman Team in 2010.