May 14, 2008

2008 Tulane Volleyball Schedule

NEW ORLEANS - Ten of the 30 matches on the 2008 Tulane volleyball schedule will come against NCAA Tournament teams from a year ago, as head coach Liz Kritza announced her squads' contests for the fall. Tulane will take on four teams which finished ranked in the top 15 of the post-season ACVA Coaches Poll.

"Playing a tough schedule is imperative to this program's development," Kritza said. "We have shown steady improvement in the recent years by being able to compete with the best teams in college volleyball, we now have to show that we can sustain that level of play. We are giving ourselves a chance to not only show we can compete, but also to adequately prepare us for conference play and tournament. The conference USA schedule is uneven with 7 home and 9 away matches, so we wanted to host more home contests against quality opponents."

Nine of Tulane's 2008 opponents were NCAA Tournament participants including Nebraska and BYU which advanced to the Elite Eight (both national rankings from the final AVCA Coaches Poll). Cal Poly, Ohio University, Xavier, Tulsa, Florida A&M, Middle Tennessee State and Missouri all also made the NCAA Field of 64.

The Green Wave open the 2008 season at the Molten Classic, hosted by BYU. Tulane will open against Missouri on August 29 and the following day face Utah State and BYU, which was ranked No. 12 in the final AVCA Coaches Poll.

Tulane's home opener is September 1 against Florida A&M at Fogelman Arena, where the Green Wave went undefeated last season.

The Green Wave head out west again for a tournament hosted by Cal Poly. Tulane takes on the host No. 11 Mustangs, Northeastern and No. 5 Nebraska on September 5 and 6.

Tulane will play host to Maryland, Jacksonville State, Louisiana Tech and North Dakota State at the Allstate Sugar Bowl on September 12 and 13. The Green Wave hit the road and play Ohio University on September 19. They will stay in Ohio to play Xavier and No. 15 Middle Tennessee State on September 20-21 on Xavier's campus in Cincinnati.

"Our non-conference schedule is incredibly tough and arguably the toughest ever to appear on the slate for Tulane volleyball," Kritza added. "I expect to see many of our opponents (Nebraska, Cal Poly, BYU, Middle Tennessee State) in the preseason AVCA Top 25 Coaches Poll.

"It takes the support from our AD, Rick Dickson, and the University to go to out and play this kind of schedule. It shows a belief in the direction of this program and a commitment to the success of these student athletes. If you want to be tournament team and to play deep into the NCAA tournament, you have to consistently perform against the top teams in the nation."

The Green Wave open Conference USA action at home versus Houston and Rice on September 26 and 28, before a four-match road trip at Memphis (Oct. 3), UAB (Oct. 5), Tulsa (Oct. 10), and SMU (Oct. 12). The Green Wave face East Carolina and Marshall at home on October 17 and 19 before road contests at Rice and Houston on October 24 and 26. They then travel to UCF on October 31 and to Southern Miss on November 4.

A two-game home stand follows with matches against SMU and Tulsa on November 7 and 9. The Green Wave wrap up the regular season with two matches against UTEP, away on November 14 and home on November 16.

The Green Wave will return all 13 players from last year's 28-6 team which received votes in the final AVCA Poll, ranking 30th. Tulane will have six selections to the All-Conference USA Teams returning, and all seven starters will be back from last year's squad, including three AVCA All-America honorable mention winners.

Times and television schedule will be announced at a later date.

2008 Tulane Volleyball Schedule
BYU Molten Classic
8/29 vs Missouri (NCAA)
8/30 at #12 BYU (NCAA)
8/30 vs Utah State
9/1 Florida A&M (NCAA)
Cal Poly Tournament 9/5 at #11 Cal Poly (NCAA)
9/6 vs Northeastern
9/6 vs #5 Nebraska (NCAA)
Allstate Sugar Bowl
9/12 Jacksonville St
9/13 North Dakota State
9/13 Maryland
9/19 at #28 Ohio (NCAA)
9/20 at Xavier (NCAA)
9/21 vs #15 Middle Tennessee St (NCAA)
9/26 Houston*
9/28 Rice*
10/3 at Memphis*
10/5 at UAB*
10/10 at Tulsa* (NCAA)
10/12 at SMU*
10/14 New Orleans
10/17 East Carolina*
10/19 Marshall*
10/24 at Rice*
10/26 at Houston*
10/31 at UCF*
11/4 at Southern Miss*
11/7 SMU*
11/9 Tulsa* (NCAA)
11/14 at UTEP*
11/16 UTEP*
11/20-11/23 C-USA Tournament
12/4-12/20 NCAA Tournament

(NCAA) - 2007 NCAA Tournament Teams
* - Conference USA opponents
# - 2007 AVCA Post-Season Poll rank
Home Matches in Bold