Laura Neugebauer-Groff
SAN ANTONIO —
Four preseason tournaments, a full slate of 16Southland Conference matches and the return of the SLC Tournament toSan Antonio highlight the 2009 UTSA volleyball schedule announced byeighth-year head coach Laura Neugebauer-Groff on Wednesday.
“I really like how this fall's schedule is set up,” Neugebauer-Groff said. “We are going to have our work cut out for us facing seven NCAA teams, but that should get us prepared for the always-challenging Southland Conference season. I am excited about getting started next month, especially with what we have returning and the newcomers coming in.”
The Roadrunners, who will face seven teams that played in last fall's NCAA Tournament, open theseason with three matches at the Mean Green Classic in Denton.UTSA begins its 27th season of play on Friday, Aug. 28, againsttournament host North Texas. The Birds then will square off against Northern Coloradoand SMU the following day.
UTSA opens the 13-match home slate on Tuesday, Sept. 1, against Prairie View A&M and it will carry a perfect 13-0 all-time mark against the Lady Panthers into that contest, including nine consecutive sweeps.
The Roadrunners return to tournament play three days later when they head north to Waco for the Baylor Classic. The Birds open tournament play onFriday, Sept. 4, against Purdue and wrap up play the next daywith matches against Baylor and Central Florida.
UTSA returns to the Convocation Center on Tuesday, Sept. 8, for a tilt against Cal State Bakersfield before leaving the mainland for the first time in program history for The Honolulu Advertiser Challenge, which will be hosted by Hawai`i (Thursday-Saturday, Sept. 10-12). The Roadrunners will open tournament play against 2008 NCAA runner-up Stanford, followed by matches with the Rainbow Wahine and Weber State.
UTSA returns home to host the three-day UTSA Classic, which will run from Thursday-Saturday, Sept. 17-19. The Birds kick off the tournament with a Sept. 17 contest against Washington, which advanced to national quarterfinals a year ago. The Roadrunners will host Middle Tennessee the following night and Rice on Sept. 19 to close out the event.
The conferencecampaign begins on Thursday, Sept. 24, when UTSA travels north to face UT Arlington. Two days later, the Roadrunnersplay I-35 rival and defending regular season champion Texas State in San Marcos. Another weekend of road tiltsfollow when UTSA squares off against Prairie View A&M (Friday, Oct. 2) and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (Saturday, Oct. 3).
The Birds return home for contests against Lamar (Thursday, Oct. 8), Sam Houston State (Saturday, Oct. 10) and McNeese State (Wednesday, Oct. 14) before heading east for a Saturday, Oct. 17 tilt at Stephen F. Austin.
UTSA will welcome Northwestern State (Thursday, Oct. 22) and Central Arkansas (Saturday, Oct. 24) to the Convocation Center the following weekend and, after a two-match road trip at Lamar (Thursday, Oct. 29) and Sam Houston State (Saturday, Oct. 31), Texas A&M-Corpus Christi makes its annual visit to San Antonio on Tuesday, Nov. 3.
The Roadrunners hit the road for the final time when they head to the Bayou State for a Friday, Nov. 6, match at Nicholls and a tilt at Southeastern Louisiana the following afternoon.
UTSA wraps up the regular season with home matches against Texas State (Nov. 12) and UT Arlington (Nov. 14).
Thefinal weekend will see the return of the SLC Tournament return to theConvocation Center for the third time in the last four seasons and fifth timein league history. Eight teams will converge upon the Alamo City forthe 28th annual event beginning on Friday, Nov. 20. The three-daytournament runs through Sunday, Nov. 22, and the winner will earn theSLC’s automatic berth to the NCAA Championships. The top two finishersin the East and West Division and the next four teams with the bestconference records (regardless of division) will qualify for thisyear’s event.