June 10, 2008

2008 Schedule

OXFORD, Ohio - Miami University's volleyball team, the reigning 2007 Mid-American Conference Tournament Champions, faces a competitive 2008 schedule that features six opponents that qualified for the 2007 NCAA Tournament.

"Our competitive schedule in 2008 has been intentionally designed for this Miami team. We have selected teams from the Mountain West, Big East, Big Ten, Atlantic 10 and Southland Conference who will be very worthy opponents and help us hone our skills prior to our conference race," said Miami Head Volleyball Coach Carolyn Condit.

"One of the most important goals for our program is to continue to be ranked regionally and eventually break into the national rankings," Condit added. "This schedule sets the stage for Miami volleyball to move to the next level."

Miami fans can catch their first glimpse of the 2008 RedHawk squad August 29-30 when the Red and White host the Miami Best Western/Sycamore Inn Classic at Millett Hall. The RedHawks play Atlantic-10 contender Saint Louis twice during the opening weekend before facing off against Stephen F. Austin, the 2007 Southland Conference West Division regular season champion.

The RedHawks travel to Las Vegas to play in the UNLV Tournament Sept. 5-6, before heading to Bowling Green, Ky., Sept. 12-13, to compete in the Lady Topper Invitational hosted by Western Kentucky. In Las Vegas, Miami competes against California State University - Fullerton, before testing itself against 2007 Big-Ten runner-up Wisconsin and the reigning Mountain West Champions UNLV. At the Lady Topper Invitational, the RedHawks meet Tennessee Tech, Furman and Western Kentucky, before briefly returning home for a mid-week showdown on Sept. 16 against former MAC rival Marshall.

As a tune-up for the MAC regular season, the RedHawks travel to nearby Dayton, Ohio, on Sept. 19-20 as the RedHawks meet regional foes Louisville, Dayton and Purdue, which all advanced to the 2007 NCAA Tournament.

Miami opens its 2008 MAC campaign at home on Sept. 25 against Bowling Green. Miami's other conference home MAC matches include Kent State (Oct. 3), Ohio (Oct. 5), Toledo (Oct. 24), Ball State (Oct. 25), Northern Illinois (Nov. 1), Akron (Nov. 14) and Buffalo (Nov. 15).

The RedHawks hit the road for conference road matches at Western Michigan (Sept. 27), Buffalo (Oct. 10), Akron (Oct.11), Central Michigan (Oct. 17), Eastern Michigan (Oct. 18), Bowling Green (Oct. 30), Ohio (Nov. 7) and Kent State (Nov. 8).

For the fourth consecutive year, the MAC Volleyball Tournament will be held at the SeaGate Centre in Toledo, Ohio. First-round matches will be conducted at conference home sites on Nov. 18, before the remainder of the tournament moves to Toledo Nov. 21-23.

To round out the 2008 campaign, the RedHawks travel to Kalamazoo, Mich. to compete in the Western Michigan Clarion Invitational Nov. 28-29. Possible opponents are IPFW, Marquette or Valparaiso. Tournament details will be announced at a later date.

First and second round NCAA Tournament dates are set for Dec. 4-6.