HACKENSACK, N.J. - FDU men's volleyball head coach Karl France announced his 2023 schedule Friday morning as the Knights enter their second season in program history.

This spring will mark the first year of men's volleyball as a championship sport in the Northeast Conference. FDU will compete for the NEC title along with Saint Francis, LIU, Sacred Heart, St. Francis Brooklyn, Merrimack and associate members D'Youville and Daemen.

"As we enter our second season as a program, we get to compete for a conference championship in the NEC," said France. "To be ready, I feel the level of opponents had to improve. By visiting BYU, Princeton, George Mason, Belmont Abbey and hosting CSUN, we will be ready for the challenge of competing in the NEC."

The Knights will kick off their regular season in Atlantic City, N.J., as they compete in the first-ever JBJ Battle for the Boardwalk Collegiate Tournament. FDU opens the weekend on January 6 with a pair of exhibition matches followed by their regular season opener against Belmont Abbey on January 7 at Harrah's Resort and Casino.

Following the tournament the Knights will compete in a home-and-home with American International, marking their first home match of the season on January 14 in Stratis Arena.

Closing out January, FDU will travel to Provo, Utah, where the team will compete in back-to-back tilts at BYU before returning home for their NEC home opener against Saint Francis on February 10.

The Knights enter the thick of conference play in late February before hitting the road for a stretch of nine away matches. This road spurt will feature matchups at Princeton and Belmont Abbey along with back-to-back matches at George Mason in Fairfax, Virginia. 

FDU enters a final spurt of NEC road matchups on March 24 to April 1 before closing their regular season with four conference bouts at home.

The first ever Northeast Conference Championship will be held April 19 to April 22. This tournament will feature the six highest seeds, hosted at the location of the No. 1 seed.