Marquette University Athletics
Volleyball Announces 2009 Fall Schedule
5/1/2009 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
May 1, 2009
MILWAUKEE -- Led by first-year head coach Bond Shymansky, the Marquette women's volleyball team will be faced with a high-degree of competition in 2009. Boasting a strong schedule highlighted by six teams that played in the NCAA Tournament a year ago, the Golden Eagles will enter the season with a greatly overhauled roster.
"We are all very excited about our fall schedule," said head coach Bond Shymansky. "This is a real chance for us to measure up against some top 25 teams and some national-powerhouse programs. We are establishing a new standard for our volleyball program, and playing high caliber opponents is key. We have developed a culture of champions within our team this year, so now we need to put that culture to the test and prepare like champions for our schedule."
A team that struggled to close out matches on the road last season, the Golden Eagles must prove early resiliency away from the Al McGuire Center. The first 11 of the team's 14 matches will be on neutral or road courts, and Marquette will face all six teams that made NCAA Tournament appearances last year on the road. Of the eight BIG EAST squads that qualified for last year's conference tournament, five of those contests will be on the road this season.
The Golden Eagles open the season at the Loyola (Ill.) Invitational to introduce five newcomers to the NCAA Division I ranks. Marquette will compete with Eastern Kentucky, Iowa, and host Loyola (Ill.) August 28-29.
The following weekend, Marquette will host four out-of-state squads in their only home tournament of the season Sept. 4-5. The Tournament will include a total of eight matches over two days in a round-robin format and the Golden Eagles will take on Binghamton and Butler Friday, and Austin Peay and Texas State on Saturday.
In the third of its four fall tournaments, Shymansky's squad will face two teams that made NCAA appearances last year at the Panther Invitational, hosted by Wisconsin-Milwaukee. The Golden Eagles will play Western Michigan and South Dakota on Fri., Sept. 11 before competing against the host Panthers on Saturday afternoon.
The next day, Sept. 13, Marquette will host Ohio State in the team's first non-tournament match of the season.
The Michigan/adidas Invitational, Sept. 18-19, will be a key test for the Golden Eagles before opening BIG EAST Conference play. Both Michigan and Dayton appeared in the NCAA Tournament least season, with final RPIs of 16 and 45, respectively. The Wolverines, which Marquette is 0-3 all-time against, ended the 2008 season ranked No. 17 nationally in the Bison/AVCA Division I Coaches Poll. Oregon State will round out the field in the Michigan/adidas Invitational.
BIG EAST play begins with back-to-back road matches at Pittsburgh on Sept. 26 and at West Virginia on Sept. 27.
Marquette will return to the Al McGuire Center the first weekend of October to host Seton Hall and Rutgers on Oct. 2 and Oct. 4.
The Golden Eagles then hit the road again the weekend of Oct. 9 to take on Connecticut and St. John's before a four-game homestand. The Red Storm earned a share of the BIG EAST regular season title last season with just two conference losses, one coming at the hands of the Golden Eagles in MU's first ever victory over St. John's.
Marquette hosts Georgetown, USF, Green Bay and Syracuse over a two-week span in mid-October. The three BIG EAST matches may prove difficult for a Marquette squad that lost to all three teams last season, including a 3-2 loss against the Orange.
The Golden Eagles travel to Cincinnati and Louisville on Oct. 30 and Nov. 1, respectively. Both teams made NCAA appearances last season, with Cincinnati, led by BIG EAST Coach of the Year, Reed Sunahara, claiming a share the BIG EAST regular reason title and Louisville winning the BIG EAST Tournament. The Louisville match will pit the two BIG EAST coaches with the highest career winning percentages against each other in Cardinal head coach Leonid Yelin and Shymansky.
In the final stretch before the BIG EAST Tournament, Marquette will host Notre Dame, DePaul and Villanova in early November. The Golden Eagles began their series against the Fighting Irish with nine consecutive losses, but have captured wins each of the last two seasons. DePaul and Villanova were both close matches last season, with Marquette falling to DePaul in five games and beating Villanova in the same number.
After not qualifying for the BIG EAST Tournament the past two seasons, the Golden Eagles will aim to make a return trip on Nov. 21-23 to Louisville, Ky. Marquette will close out the regular season against Central Michigan on Nov. 27 at the Al McGuire Center.
