May 7, 2008

DAYTON, Ohio - First-year head coach Kelly Sheffield announced the 2008 University of Dayton volleyball schedule on Wednesday. The Flyers are scheduled to face nine teams that advanced to the NCAA Tournament last season while taking part in 15 home matches at Frericks Center.

The average record of this season's opponents in 2007 was 18-13 with nine different teams reaching the 20-win plateau. Cleveland State, Miami (Ohio), Long Island, Louisville, Ohio, UNLV and Xavier all took part in the NCAA First Round while Albany and Purdue each advanced to the NCAA Second Round. Five schools won their conference tournament while three others advanced to their respective championship match.

"Our out of conference schedule is phenomenal," Sheffield said. "It's loaded with teams that will be in the running for their conference championships and teams that have the talent to advance in the NCAA Tournament. Both of our home tournaments are going to be very exciting and competitive. Plus, the players here are very competitive. I know they like challenges and I think they'd be disappointed if we put together a schedule that was considerably weak."

The 2008 slate also features four different squads that were ranked at one point last season as Purdue and Ohio were as high as #13 in the AVCA Top 25 Coaches Poll last season. Louisville was #17 as one point while UNLV spent two weeks at #25. The average RPI of this year's opponents was 118 at the end of the 2007 season including nine that were in the Top 60.

Dayton enjoyed its best season in modern program history in 2007 with a 33-2 overall record culminating with a trip to the second round of the NCAA Tournament. The Flyers were ranked in the AVCA Top 25 Coaches Poll for the first time ever and reached as high as 12th in the Poll at one point. UD won its fourth straight Atlantic 10 Regular Season Championship and took home the Atlantic 10 Tournament Title for the fourth time in five years. The Flyers also hosted NCAA First and Second Round matches for the first time ever in front of sold-out crowds at Frericks Center.

UD starts with a non-conference schedule that features five tournaments in consecutive weekends beginning with a season-opening trip to Tempe, AZ for the ASU Sheraton Classic, Aug. 29-30. Dayton opens the season against UNLV, which also advanced to the NCAA Tournament last season as well as South Carolina from the SEC and host Arizona State from the Pac 10 Conference.

The Flyers then open the home portion of their schedule with a match against Eastern Illinois on Sept. 2. UD remains at home to play host to the Dayton Flyer Invitational on Sept. 5 & 6 featuring Big Ten foe Northwestern, Towson from the CAA and Cleveland State, which won the Horizon League Championship last season to earn an automatic berth to the NCAA Tournament.

Dayton returns to the road for another trio of matches at the Comcast Lady Vol Classic in Knoxville, TN. The Flyers will take on Illinois and Gardner-Webb on the opening day of play on Friday, Sept, 12 before playing host Tennessee on Sunday, Sept, 14.

UD will then host its second home tournament of the season when a stacked field takes part in the Dayton Flyer Classic on Sept. 19 & 20. All four teams in the field took part in the NCAA Tournament last season as Dayton will welcome Purdue, Miami (Ohio) and Louisville to the Frericks Center.

The Flyers then close out the pre-conference portion of their schedule with a trip to Sheffield's home for the past seven seasons for a four-team tournament hosted by Albany. Dayton will face Long Island and Yale in addition to the host Great Danes on Sept. 26 & 27 in Upstate New York. Both Long Island and Albany took part in the 2007 NCAA Tournament.

"This is a program that wants to win championships and advance deep into the NCAA Tournament," Sheffield said. "The schedule is set up and pointed in a direction to help us achieve that goal while also preparing us to take on the Atlantic 10."

UD will play its first three matches in October on the road as it opens Atlantic 10 Conference play at George Washington on Friday, Oct. 3. Dayton will then return to the site where it clinched its 2007 A-10 Tournament Title for a match with Charlotte on Sunday, Oct. 5. The Flyers will also return to Ohio for a non-conference matchup with Big East opponent Cincinnati on Tuesday, Oct. 7.

The next four matches will all be at home for Dayton, which enjoyed a perfect 10-0 regular-season record at the Frericks Center last season. UD also led the Atlantic 10 Conference and ranked 40th nationally in attendance by averaging 1,005 fans per match including back-to-back sold-out crowds for NCAA First and Second Round matches during the 2007 season. The Flyers will play host to A-10 opponents Temple (Oct. 10), La Salle (Oct. 11), Rhode Island (Oct. 17) and Fordham (Oct. 18) in consecutive matches.

"There are a lot of opportunities for our fans to see the team play here at home this season," Sheffield said. "I haven't been here that long, but it is very evident that the fan base is very strong. The Red Scare and the rest of the UD supporters are going to have a lot of opportunities this year to get Frericks rockin'."

UD returns to the road for its next four conference matches with trips to Saint Louis (Oct. 24) and Duquesne (Oct. 26) before heading to Cincinnati for a rematch of the 2007 Atlantic 10 Championship Match against rival Xavier. Dayton's trip to Xavier was the only regular-season loss for the Flyers in 2007. UD won the season series with XU, 2-1, which advanced to the NCAA Tournament. The Flyers close out the road stretch with a trek to Rhode Island on Nov. 2 for a rematch with the Rams before returning home for four consecutive matches at Frericks Center. UD will play host to a rematch with Xavier (Nov. 7) as well as a meeting with backyard rival Wright State (Nov. 8) as well as A-10 West Division foes Duquesne (Nov. 14) and Saint Louis (Nov. 15).

The 2008 Atlantic 10 Volleyball Championship will take place Nov. 21-23 at the brand new Chaifetz Arena in Saint Louis, MO. Dayton will be looking to win its second straight title and fifth championship in the last six years. The only other school to win the A-10 Tournament Title in that time was Saint Louis who took home the crown when Dayton played host to the Tournament in 2006.

Following the A-10 Tournament, UD will play one final regular-season match at 2007 NCAA Tournament participant Ohio on Friday, Nov. 28 in an attempt to improve its positioning for NCAA Tournament play which begins Dec. 4-7 at campus sites.