June 1, 2009

2009 Volleyball Schedule

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. - The University of Tennessee volleyball team will face a challenging schedule in the upcoming fall season, as UT Head Coach Rob Patrick announced the 2009 slate on Monday. Coming off their fourth NCAA Tournament appearance in the past five seasons, the Lady Volunteers will play a total of 30 regular-season matches, including 13 at home at Thompson-Boling Arena.

"We've set up a very challenging and comprehensive schedule for next season," UT Head Coach Rob Patrick said. "We have high hopes for our team, and this schedule reflects that. We made it a point to schedule teams that have been successful in recent years and we will have to play good, solid volleyball in order to win from the first day of the season on."

UT will square off against a total of 20 different teams, including nine which participated in the NCAA Tournament and four which finished the 2008 campaign ranked among the top-25 teams in the nation by the American Volleyball Coaches Association.

"The thing I like about our non-conference schedule is that we play teams from a number of power volleyball conferences, and there really aren't any weak teams in any of our three tournaments," Patrick said. "That will force us to play at a high level in each and every match, which should help us throughout the rest of the season.

"Another thing that stands out to me is the amount of success the coaches at each of these schools have had," Patrick said. "They have all been at their programs for at least five years and have countless conference championships and NCAA Tournament appearances under their belts."

The Big Orange will christen the season by hosting the seventh annual Comcast Lady Vol Classic, Aug. 29 and 30 at Thompson-Boling Arena. The Lady Vols will welcome three teams, kicking off the campaign against 2008 Ohio Valley Conference champion Tennessee Tech at Noon on Saturday. Tennessee will then take to the court against Western Kentucky at 7 p.m. that same day. The Lady Toppers won the Sun Belt Conference Tournament to earn their second consecutive NCAA Tournament berth last season and posted a solid 26-10 record.

The final match of the tournament will pit the Lady Vols against Lipscomb at 2:30 p.m. on Sunday. The Lady Bison fell just short of the NCAA Tournament after dropping the Atlantic Sun championship match to Belmont. Despite the defeat, Lipscomb still finished with the most wins in program history with a 21-11 record.

"We are very excited about our opening tournament," Patrick said. "All three teams coming in will be extremely disciplined and well-coached. The other thing that they all have in common is that they are used to winning as they have all won their conference at least once in the past two seasons. This tournament will be a great start to our season, and I am excited to get our team in front of our fans so early in the year."

Following their home tournament, the Lady Vols will travel to Cincinnati, Ohio, for the Xavier Invitational, to be held Sept. 4-5 at the Cintas Center. The Orange and White will open its road schedule against back-to-back NCAA Sweet 16 participant Michigan before squaring off versus Notre Dame and host Xavier over the course of the next two days.

"The Xavier Tournament should really give us a gauge of where we are at early in the season and is unique in that we will be playing just one match a day over three days," Patrick said. "Michigan has been one of the most consistent programs in the country over the past few years. They've been in the Sweet 16 two years in a row and return a very experienced and physical team.

"Notre Dame is also a perennial top-tier team which consistently gets some of the top recruits from around the nation," Patrick said. "They will be a very physical team as well and have a ton of talent on their roster. As for Xavier, they have been one of the most successful programs in the Atlantic 10 for quite a while. They play a great brand of volleyball and will beat you if you don't play well. They are another well-trained team and (Musketeer Head Coach) Floyd Deaton always has them very organized."

Tennessee will then make the trek to Chapel Hill, N.C., where it will compete in the Carolina Classic, Sept. 11-13, beginning with a Friday evening contest against the host Tarheels. UT will then finish off its tournament slate against Marshall and Colorado State, which ended the 2008 campaign ranked 24th in the nation after a loss to Florida in the second round of the NCAA Tournament, the following day.

"Our final tournament in North Carolina will be extremely difficult as well, as we will play three great teams in just two days, but it should be a good test for our team," Patrick said. "It's always tough to play North Carolina at home and I expect this match to be more of the same, with two high-level, physical teams battling it out.

"Colorado State has been a top-20 program over the past few years," Patrick said. "Although they lose some great players, their returning players and the great recruiting class they have coming in could create some problems for us. We do not have many opportunities to play teams from the Mountain West Conference and are very excited about that. It is an underrated conference, which consistently plays some terrific volleyball and has teams advance in the NCAA Tournament every season.

"Marshall has been one of the most consistent programs in the Mid-American Conference over the past decade," Patrick said. "They have a very innovative coach in Mitch Jacobs who always maximizes his team's potential and does a great job of taking away their opponent's strengths."

The Southeastern Conference portion of Tennessee's schedule will begin on Friday, Sept. 18, when it travels to Baton Rouge, La., to take on LSU, before returning home for a pair of matches against Arkansas and Ole Miss the following week. The Big Orange will then finish off its non-conference schedule with a mid-week showdown on the road at Louisville on Wednesday, Sept. 30.

"Our annual match against Louisville is always fun to play," Patrick said. "They present a different type of challenge in that they are as big a team as we will ever see and they play a European style of volleyball. It is always a very high-level, physical match when we play them and we are looking forward to it."

The Lady Vols will close out the season with 17 consecutive league contests, highlighted by a pair of matches against 2008 conference champion Florida, as well as a pair of mid-week matchups against border-rival Kentucky. The Gators advanced to the Sweet 16 before falling to national title runner-up Stanford, while the Wildcats tallied an impressive 26-6 overall record and finished second in the SEC.

"Last season, I felt that the SEC was a very young conference," Patrick said. "The fact that everyone is one year older now just means that these young athletes are becoming better volleyball players, which will only help the level of play continue to rise. The conference, as a whole, will present even more of a challenge than last year because of this. Up and down the line, teams are going to be very familiar with each other and there will be a lot of close matches. The teams that play with the most consistency will be the teams that are successful.

"I think this is going to be one of the most wide open years that you will see in SEC volleyball," Patrick said. "Obviously, you always have to look at Florida first because they have proven that they are the team to beat year in and year out, but there will be no easy wins in the SEC this season. It will be extremely important to win at home and then try to go steal some wins on the road."

Tennessee returns 10 letterwinners from last season's squad, including AVCA Honorable Mention All-American Nikki Fowler and all-region performer Chloe Goldman. The team, led by Patrick, the 2008 SEC Coach of the Year, will look to use the challenging schedule to earn its fifth berth into the NCAA Tournament in the past six seasons. The postseason will begin Dec. 3-6 at various campus sites around the country, while the semifinal and championship matches will take place at the St. Pete Times Forum in Tampa Bay, Fla., Dec. 17 and 19, respectively.