Utah Valley University head softball coach Nikki Palmer released her team's 2016 schedule on Friday, and it features 16 contests against 2015 NCAA Tournament teams as well as a full slate of 15 Western Athletic Conference games.
The Wolverines, who picked up their first-ever win over a nationally ranked opponent last year in No. 25 Cal State Fullerton and made a deep run at the 2015 WAC Tournament, will take part in five preseason tournaments in 2016 and play a total of 51 regular season contests.
"We are very excited about the way our schedule shaped up this year," Palmer said. "As always, we look forward to the challenge that the preseason holds and we believe it will prepare us for the strength that exists within our conference opponents."
UVU opens its 2016 campaign at UNLV's Sportco Kick Off Classic on Feb. 12-14. While in Las Vegas, the Wolverines will take on 2015 NCAA Tournament teams Minnesota and Washington, as well as Texas Tech, Lamar and the host UNLV Rebels. The following weekend, Feb. 19-21, Utah Valley continues its preseason slate at the renowned Mary Nutter Classic in Palm Springs, California. There, UVU faces off against Notre Dame, George Washington, Army, Bethune-Cookman and Binghamton.
In the final weekend of February (Feb. 26-28), Utah Valley heads to Hawai'i for six games at the Hawai'i Invitational. The Wolverines will face the host Rainbow Wahine three times as well as the Portland State Vikings three times.
UVU travels to Southern California the next two weeks, as it will take part at the San Diego Classic I on March 4-6, and the Long Beach Louisville Slugger Invitational on March 10-12. The Wolverines face off against Boston University, Pittsburgh, Texas A&M, Saint Joseph's and UIC while in San Diego and Cal State Fullerton, Iowa State, Long Beach State, UCLA and UC Santa Barbara in Long Beach.
The Wolverines open their nine-game home slate March 15, when in-state foe Utah State comes to town for UVU's lone contest of the week. Utah Valley then makes the short trek to Gail Miller Field in Provo to face BYU on March 22. The Wolverines and Cougars will face off again on April 20, at Wolverine Field in Orem. UVU will also host Idaho State in non-conference play on April 12, as well as head to Ogden for a doubleheader against the 2015 Big Sky Tournament Champion Weber State Wildcats on April 5.
"I am thrilled with the lineup of opponents that we have set up to face us at home and we anticipate good crowds for many of these contests," Palmer said. "Playing in-state teams is always an exciting opportunity and the postseason history in Utah over the past two years will make for some outstanding matchups."
The 2014 WAC Tournament Champion Wolverines open their third season of WAC play on April 1, with a three-game conference series at CSU Bakersfield. UVU then returns home the following weekend for its conference home opening series against the defending WAC Champion New Mexico State Aggies on April 8-9. Following a league series at Missouri-Kansas City on April 15-16, Utah Valley returns to Orem for its final home series of the season when Grand Canyon comes to town on April 22-23.
The Wolverines then close conference play the final weekend of April (April 29-30) at Seattle U. Following a pair of midweek doubleheaders at 2015 Women's College World Series participant Oregon and Portland State on May 3 and 4, respectively, UVU returns to the Emerald City for the 2016 WAC Tournament that will be hosted by Seattle U on May 12-14.
James Warnick is an assistant sports information director at Utah Valley University. For more information about Wolverine athletics, visit WolverineGreen.com.