University of Tennessee Athletics
TENNESSEE VOLLEYBALL PLAYS TOP COMPETITION IN 2005
June 09, 2005 | Volleyball
June 9, 2005
2005 Volleyball Schedule in PDF Format
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KNOXVILLE, Tenn. - The University of Tennessee volleyball team will play 12 matches in 2005 against teams who qualified for last season's NCAA Tournament and 14 contests against squads who finished 2004 ranked in the top 50 of the RKPI (Rich Kern Percentage Index), a simulation of the RPI (Rating Percentage Index) used by the NCAA to help select and seed teams for the NCAA Tournament. The Lady Vols are coming off a historic campaign that saw the Big Orange claim SEC co-regular season and tournament titles and advance to the Sweet 16 before falling, 3-2, to Ohio State.
Tennessee will start with nine non-conference matches before delving in to Southeastern Conference play.
"I think this is one of the strongest preseason schedules that we have ever put together," Head Coach Rob Patrick said. "We have five matches against teams in the 2004 NCAA Tournament in Utah, Missouri, College of Charleston, Ohio and Purdue."
The Lady Vols open the season by traveling to Nashville to take on Lipscomb on Aug. 27, before heading to Columbia, Mo., to play Utah on Sept. 3 and Missouri on Sept. 4. The Tigers advanced to the NCAA Second Round and were ranked 24th in the final AVCA (American Volleyball Coaches Association) Top 25 Coaches Poll and 23rd in the end-of-season RKPI ratings. The Utes reached the NCAA First Round and finished 30th in the RKPI.
"We're really excited to start off with a couple of top-20 quality teams in Utah and Missouri," Patrick said. "At that point, we'll have a good read on where we are, what our strengths and weaknesses are and what we need to work on."
The Big Orange will play its first home contest versus Baylor at 7 p.m. on Sept. 9 before taking on Central Michigan and defending Southern Conference champion College of Charleston on Sept. 10. CofC is led by Sherry Dunbar, who served as Lady Vol assistant coach from 1997-02. Those contests comprise part of the Lady Vol Classic. Each of the four participating teams will play each other in a round-robin format.
"Our tournament will have some great matches," Patrick said. "Baylor is an up-and-coming team. At College of Charleston, Sherry Dunbar, has done a great job leading them to two NCAA Tournaments. We have a Mid-American Conference team in Central Michigan coming in who is a real strong all-around team."
Tennessee follows that up with a trip to West Lafayette, Ind., and The Mortar Board Premier to face Xavier, Ohio University and host Purdue. Xavier had a successful 2004 campaign, going 12-2 in Atlantic-10 play, winning a regular season co-championship, and 20-11 overall. Ohio won the Mid-American conference regular-season and tournament titles and advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament, finishing 20th in the RKPI. The host Boilermakers advanced to the NCAA's Second Round last season, topping No. 9 Colorado State on the road in the first round.
"At Purdue's tournament, we will face a really strong team in Purdue, play Ohio, who has a lot of returning players, and Xavier, who is perennially strong."
The Lady Vols then proceed into SEC play, beginning with a road trip to Arkansas and LSU. The initial SEC action in Stokely Athletics Center will be on Sept. 30 as the Big Orange welcomes Ole Miss to Knoxville.
"The SEC schedule is stronger," Patrick said. "The conference is stronger than it has ever been and there are not going to be any easy matches in SEC play."
Tennessee will take on Florida, the team it shared the regular-season title with, twice: in Gainesville on Oct. 7 and at Stokely Athletics Center on Oct. 30.
Last year, four SEC teams qualified for the NCAA Tournament. Tennessee advanced to the regional semifinals and Florida reached the second round before falling to eventual national champion Stanford in a tight 3-2 setback. Georgia made the tourney for the first time in nine years, falling to rival Georgia Tech in the initial round, while Arkansas fell to 16th-seeded Missouri in four games in the first round. Five league teams finished in the top 50 of the final RKPI ratings in UT (ninth), Florida (10th), Georgia (38th), Alabama (41st) and Arkansas (43rd).
In the middle of conference action, Tennessee takes on power Louisville and, following the SEC Tournament, travels to South Bend, Ind., to play Notre Dame. The Cardinals finished 2004 ranked 15th nationally and, like UT, advanced to the Sweet 16. UND made the second round of volleyball's version of the Big Dance last season.
"After playing the SEC Tournament, which will be very strong as four teams made the NCAAs last year, we will finish with a top-20 team in Notre Dame at their place," Patrick said. "It is great playing strong teams at the end of the year. It's a good way to end the year.
"The schedule, both non-conference and conference, will really prepare us for the postseason. I think overall this is the toughest schedule we have put together."
| 2005 University of Tennessee Volleyball Schedule | |||
| Sat. Aug. 27 | 3 p.m. CT | at Lipscomb | Nashville, Tenn. |
| Sat. Sept. 3 | 6:30 p.m. CT | vs. Utah | Columbia, Mo. |
| Sun. Sept. 4 | 2 p.m. CT | at Missouri | Columbia, Mo. |
| LADY VOL CLASSIC (KNOXVILLE) | |||
| Fri. Sept. 9 | 5 p.m. | College of Charleston vs. Central Michigan | |
| 7 p.m. | UT vs. BAYLOR | ||
| Sat. Sept. 10 | 11 a.m. | Baylor vs. College of Charleston | |
| 1 p.m. | UT vs. CENTRAL MICHIGAN | ||
| 5 p.m. | Baylor vs. Central Michigan | ||
| 7 p.m. | UT vs. COLLEGE OF CHARLESTON | ||
| The Mortar Board Premier (West Lafayette, Ind.) | |||
| Fri. Sept. 16 | 5 p.m. | Tennessee vs Xavier | |
| 7 p.m. | Purdue vs Ohio University | ||
| Sat. Sept. 17 | 10 a.m. | Purdue vs Xavier | |
| Noon | Tennessee vs Ohio University | ||
| 5 p.m. | Xavier vs Ohio University | ||
| 7 p.m. | at Purdue | ||
| Fri. Sept. 23 | 7 p.m. CT | at Arkansas | Fayetteville, Ark. |
| Sun. Sept. 25 | 1:30 p.m. CT | at LSU | Baton Rouge, La. |
| Wed. Sept. 28 | 7 p.m. | at Louisville | Louisville, Ky. |
| Fri. Sept. 30 | 7 p.m. | MISSISSIPPI | KNOXVILLE |
| Sun. Oct. 2 | 1:30 p.m. | MISSISSIPPI STATE | KNOXVILLE |
| Fri. Oct. 7 | 7 p.m. | at Florida | Gainesville, Fla. |
| Sun. Oct. 9 | 1:30 p.m. | at Georgia | Athens, Ga. |
| Fri. Oct. 14 | 7 p.m. CT | at Auburn | Auburn, Ala. |
| Sun. Oct. 16 | 1:30 p.m. CT | at Alabama | Tuscaloosa, Ala. |
| Fri. Oct. 21 | 7 p.m. | KENTUCKY | KNOXVILLE |
| Wed. Oct. 26 | 7 p.m. | at South Carolina | Columbia, S.C. |
| Fri. Oct. 28 | 7 p.m. | GEORGIA | KNOXVILLE |
| Sun. Oct. 30 | 1:30 p.m. | FLORIDA | KNOXVILLE |
| Sun. Nov. 6 | 1:30 p.m. | at Kentucky | Lexington, Ky. |
| Wed. Nov. 9 | 7 p.m. | SOUTH CAROLINA | KNOXVILLE |
| Fri. Nov. 11 | 7 p.m. | ALABAMA | KNOXVILLE |
| Sun. Nov. 13 | 1:30 p.m. | AUBURN | KNOXVILLE |
| Nov. 18-20 | Southeastern Conference Tournament (Tuscaloosa, Ala.) | ||
| Sat. Nov. 26 | 7 p.m. CT | at Notre Dame | South Bend, Ind. |
