Marquette University Athletics
Volleyball Releases 2005 Schedule
7/14/2005 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
?I think this is one of the finest schedules we have had since I began coaching here,? said Rolf. ?It gives us an opportunity to be at home and play on our court in front of our fans. I am extremely excited about our schedule and the teams we will be hosting.?
The Golden Eagles will host back-to-back tournaments to open the 2005 season. At the end of August, the Marquette Kick-off will bring Virginia Commonwealth University, North Dakota State and 2004 NCAA Tournament participant Pacific to the Al McGuire Center. The very next weekend, Iowa, New Hampshire and IUPUI will make a stop at ?The Al? for the Marquette Challenge September 2-3.
The team will spend the next two weekends on the road at the Colorado Tournament and at the Eastern Kentucky Tournament before heading into conference play. Highlighting the Colorado Tournament will be a meeting with Stanford and Big XII power Colorado, while at Eastern Kentucky the Golden Eagles will see action against UNC-Greensboro and host Eastern Kentucky.
?Having the strong nonconference schedule we have, I believe it will prepare us for our BIG EAST schedule,? expressed Rolf. ?Hopefully entering the conference play we will have had some wins and successes and be able to build on them.?
The Golden Eagles will begin BIG EAST play with a four-game homestand hosting conference foes South Florida (Sept. 23), Georgetown (Sept. 25), DePaul (Sept. 30) and 2004 BIG EAST Champion Notre Dame on October 2.
?It is very crucial to play at home,? explained Rolf. ?We are playing big games at home including Notre Dame. In order for us to get to the top of the conference we need to beat Notre Dame and we have the opportunity to play them at home so our chances of winning are going to be better.?
The Golden Eagles hit the road again and face West Virginia and Pittsburgh on Oct. 8 and 9, and play at St. John?s and Connecticut Oct. 22 and 23. Marquette will host Wisconsin-Green Bay on Wednesday, Oct. 12, Syracuse on Saturday, Oct. 15, while Villanova and Rutgers both visit Milwaukee at the end of October.
The month of November will produce a cornucopia of challenges for the Golden Eagles; first battling cross-town rival Wisconsin-Milwaukee on Tuesday, November 1 in the Klotsche Center and Seton Hall four days later (Nov. 4) in ?The Al? for its conference home finale.
The Golden Eagles will close out the regular conference season on the road first trying to avenge last season?s loss against Louisville that kept them out of the NCAA Tournament on Nov. 12 and then at Cincinnati the next day. They will head back to Louisville, Ky., a week later on Nov. 18 for the BIG EAST Conference Tournament.
Thanksgiving will bring Marquette home to host its final tournament, ?MU Battle for the Bird,? featuring Western Michigan, Fairfield and Valparaiso on Nov. 25-26. Should the Golden Eagles earn a first-ever berth in the NCAA Tournament they will see first-round action on December 1 or 2.
Click here for the 2005 Marquette volleyball schedule.
>
