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April 23, 2010

2010 Schedule in PDF Format

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. - As it does every year, the University of Tennessee volleyball team has put together a challenging schedule for the upcoming fall season as UT Head Coach Rob Patrick announced the 2010 slate on Friday.

"We always want to put together a schedule that will challenge us early in the year in order to prepare our team for SEC play," Patrick said. "We want it to be challenging, but also allow set it up so that we are able to provide opportunities for our younger players to get time on the court when they can gain some experience being successful.

"A few of the things that jump out to me when I look at our schedule are that every single team we will play will be extremely well coached and many of them have had some tremendous success in recent years. Not only will we play teams that will challenge us physically, but they will present a variety of offensive and defensive systems that will force us to become more organized and be terrific learning experiences for our younger players."

Coming off their fifth NCAA Tournament appearance in the past six seasons and a year-end ranking of No. 24 in the nation, the Lady Volunteers will play a total of 30 regular-season matches, including 14 at home at Thompson-Boling Arena where it has put together a dominating 24-5 record over the past two seasons.

UT will take on 20 different opponents during the 2010 campaign, including seven that reached the NCAA Tournament last year and five that finished the season either ranked or receiving votes in the American Volleyball Coaches Association poll.

The Orange and White will kick things off by hosting the eighth annual Comcast Lady Vol Classic, August 27-28 at Thompson-Boling Arena. Tennessee will welcome Xavier, Virginia Tech and Chattanooga to Rocky Top for the two-day competition, christening the 2010 campaign with a 7 p.m. showdown with Xavier on Friday. UT will then play a double-header on Saturday, squaring off against Chattanooga at noon and Virginia Tech at 7 p.m.

Following their lone home tournament of the year, the Lady Vols will travel to the Lone Star State for three matches at the University of Houston, September 3-4. The Big Orange will open the weekend with a 3:30 p.m. CT match-up against Oklahoma. It will then play two matches the following day, opening with defending Atlantic Coast Conference champion and 2009 NCAA Regional finalist Florida State at 10 a.m. before closing out its stay in Texas with a 7:30 p.m. contest against the host Cougars.

Tennessee will then close out the tournament portion of its schedule at Ohio University on Sept. 10-11 in Athens, Ohio. While there, the Lady Vols will take on Pittsburgh at 5 p.m. on Friday and Northwestern and the defending Mid-American Conference champion Bobcats at 11 a.m. and 7 p.m., respectively, on Saturday.

From there, the Lady Vols will then return home to open Southeastern Conference play against South Carolina and Florida on Sept. 17 and 19, before hitting the road for matches at Georgia and Auburn the following week. Following eight more league contests, the Big Orange will finish off its non-conference slate when it hosts its annual rivalry match against Louisville on Wednesday, Oct. 27 at 7 p.m.

"As close as last year's SEC race was, I think that is going to become more and more typical over the next few years as the parity in our league continues to decrease," Patrick said. "Our league is becoming one where if you don't come to play, both mentally and physically, every match, there is a very real possibility that you can lose to any of the other 10 teams on any given day. The SEC is quickly becoming one of the elite conferences in the nation as evidenced by the fact that we finished with four teams in the top-25 at the end of last season.

"I am always excited for our annual match against Louisville. It has developed into a very good-natured rivalry and is a fun, inter-regional match that produces high-level volleyball out of both teams every year."

Tennessee will then close out the season with eight consecutive SEC matches, highlighted by visit from defending conference champion LSU on Friday, Nov. 12 and a season-ending showdown against border-rival Kentucky on Wednesday, Nov. 24. The Orange and White won both contests against the Wildcats in thrilling fashion during the regular season last year before UK marched its way to the NCAA Tournament regional semifinals where it fell to Florida State.

UT returns 10 letterwinners from last year's squad, including two-time AVCA Honorable Mention All-American and All-SEC First Team member Nikki Fowler. The team, which also welcomes back All-SEC honorees in Kayla Jeter and Leslie Cikra, will look to use the challenging schedule to earn its sixth berth into the NCAA Tournament in the past seven seasons. The postseason will begin in early December at various campus sites around the country, while the semifinal and championship matches will take place at the Spirit Center in Kansas City, Mo., Dec. 16 and 18, respectively.