The George Mason women's volleyball team will host its annual Patriot Invitational on Labor Day weekend, highlighting a challenging non-conference slate of games before opening Colonial Athletic Association play in late September, as the Patriots unveiled their upcoming season schedule Tuesday.

Mason opens the season with the annual D.C. Volleyball Challenge, this year being contested in the Nation's Capital at American (August 26) and George Washington (August 27). There, they will take on the host Eagles and Colonials along with Georgetown.

The following weekend, Mason welcomes UNC Greensboro, High Point and Navy for the Patriot Invitational on Saturday and Sunday, September 3-4. After that, the Patriots hit the road for tournaments hosted by Morehead State (Sep. 9-10) and Marshall (Sep. 16-17).

"I think this season's schedule is going to be very competitive," said head coach Pat Kendrick, who begins her 27^th season at the helm in 2011. "Our non-conference schedule is going to prepare us for the battle we're going to face against our conference opponents.  The DC Challenge is always a great way to start the season.  American, George Washington and Georgetown always push us to play our best right at the beginning of the season.  We're looking forward to hosting the Patriot Invitational which will allow a couple of Mason Men's team alums (Patrick Nicholas/UNCG and Jason Oliver/High Point) to coach in the RAC for the first time.  The Morehead State and Marshall tournaments will allow us to compete against teams we either haven't seen for a while like East Carolina, or teams we haven't played against at all like Marshall."

Conference play begins with a battle against VCU on Friday, September 23 at the RAC, with a matchup against William & Mary the following night. Three straight road matches follow, with the Patriots traveling to James Madison (Sep. 30), Towson (Oct. 7) and Delaware (Oct. 9).  The Patriots host a pair of northern conference rivals in Northeastern (Oct. 14) and Hofstra (Oct. 15), the latter being Mason's annual Dig Pink match to raise awareness for breast cancer research.

Mason closes out October with four matches on the road, traveling to William & Mary (Oct. 21), VCU (Oct. 22), Georgia State (Oct. 28) and UNC Wilmington (Oct. 30). The final three matches of the regular season will be played in Fairfax, as the Patriots host JMU (Nov. 5), Towson (Nov. 11) and Delaware (Nov. 12).

The Patriots will vie for one of the six spots available in the CAA Championship field, which will be contested November 19-20 at the highest seed.

"We're excited the conference athletic directors have decided to return to the 6-team format," Kendrick added. "With the conference teams getting stronger and more competitive every year, this year's tournament will be very exciting."