Crookston, Minn. – Minnesota Crookston volleyball coach Nick Meseck announced the 2023 schedule for the Golden Eagles earlier this afternoon.
 
Meseck enters his second season as the head man of Minnesota Crookston and third overall on the bench.
 
The Golden Eagles will kick-off 2023 with an exhibition match at the University of North Dakota. Minnesota Crookston will head 20 miles west down Highway-2 to play the Fighting Hawks for the first time since 2008, which was a regular season game. The Golden Eagles do have three all-time wins against the Fighting Hawks.
 
The Golden Eagles will start their season with a pair of non-conference tournaments. Much like last season, the Golden Eagles will head to the Upper Peninsula for four matches, opening the season Aug. 31 against host school Northern Michigan, much like they did a season ago. The Golden Eagles will also play Lake Superior State for the second straight season.
 
The following weekend, Minnesota Crookston will head to Texas to play four opponents that have never played in program history. The Golden Eagles will play host school Texas Permian Basin, St. Mary's University (TX), University of the Southwest (N.M.) and Eastern New Mexico. Eastern New Mexico was the only school out of the four Golden Eagle opponents to have a .500 record a season ago, while the Rattlers of St. Mary's finished with a 14-14 record.
 
The challenging non-conference schedule for the young Golden Eagles, who welcome nine newcomers this season, should prepare the Golden Eagles for the toughest conference in Division II.
 
With Upper Iowa leaving the NSIC, the schedule will look different this season.
 
The Golden Eagles will open up their conference slate on the road Sep. 15-16 at Northern State and MSU Moorhead. The home opener for the Golden Eagles will be Minot State for the second straight season. The Golden Eagles also host the University of Mary that weekend, as well. That will be the start of four-straight matches at home for the Golden Eagles, who also host the University of Sioux Falls and St. Cloud State University during that stretch.
 
The Golden Eagles will play perennial NSIC power Wayne State College twice, once on the road and one at home inside Lysaker Gymnasium. They will also have two weekends throughout the season that are just Saturday matches during conference play, once at home against Sioux Falls and once on the road at Minnesota Duluth.
 
The Golden Eagles finished 5-23 last season and will look to improve on that record this season with a number of key contributors returning from a season ago.