July 1, 2005

2005 Dayton Volleyball Schedule

DAYTON - University of Dayton Head Coach Tim Horsmon finalized the 2005 schedule for the two-time defending Atlantic 10 Champion Dayton Flyer volleyball team Friday.

Dayton, who made its second straight trip to the NCAA Tournament in 2004, will play four teams who also advanced to the NCAA Tourney last season. In fact, the Flyers will face two of them in the first weekend of the season as UD will take on Florida and UC Santa Barbara as well as Missouri State in a tournament hosted by University of Florida, Sept. 1 & 2.

"We will have to be ready to play right out of the gate this season as we will face three challenging opponents during the opening weekend," Horsmon said. "These teams will help us in the pursuit of developing a nationally recognized program and climbing the ladder of the best teams of the country."

Dayton will then return to Ohio to take on local rival Wright State before beginning its home schedule with its own tournament, which will include Indiana State, Mississippi State and Virginia on Sept. 9 & 10.

The Flyers will then travel to Purdue on Sept. 13 to take on the Boilermakers who advanced to the Second Round of the NCAA Tournament last season. Dayton will also play non-conference road matches against Arkansas State, Indiana, Western Michigan and IUPUI.

UD also faces OVC Champion and 2005 NCAA Tournament participant Eastern Kentucky at Frericks Center on September 27.

"Our non-conference schedule should prepare us for another difficult Atlantic 10 schedule," Horsmon said. "These opponents should help our team develop throughout the season so that we are at our best when we play Charlotte on Sept. 23."

With the addition of Charlotte and Saint Louis in 2005, the Atlantic 10 will move to divisional play with teams playing each team in their division twice and every team in the other division once. Dayton will play in a division along with Duquesne, Rhode Island, Saint Louis and Xavier. The other division will be comprised of Charlotte, Fordham, George Washington, La Salle and Temple. The winner of each division as well as the next best two teams overall will compete in the 2005 Atlantic 10 Championships hosted by Rhode Island, November 18 & 19.

"The Atlantic 10 should be wide open again this season especially with the new scheduling format," Horsmon said. "The addition of Charlotte and Saint Louis will strengthen a difficult A-10 schedule, which includes traditional A-10 powers Xavier and Temple."