Miami Volleyball Announces 2005 Schedule
March 22, 2005
CORAL GABLES, Fla.-University of Miami women’s volleyball head coach Nicole Lantagne Welch announced the 2005 Hurricane volleyball schedule Tuesday.
Miami’s 2005 slate will feature three early season tournaments, including two at home, and a reconfigured Atlantic Coast Conference schedule that will have Miami play every team in the conference both at home and away.
The Hurricanes will open the season on the road in the Houston Tournament. There, Miami will face tournament host Houston, Arkansas State and Ole Miss of the strong South Eastern Conference (SEC).
“Opening at the University of Houston is great because it’ll be Karla [Johnson’s] senior year and she’ll get to play in her home town,” notes Lantagne Welch.
Miami will then return home for their first of two home tournaments. The Hurricane Invitational will take place from September 9th through the 10th and will feature Tulane, Xavier and Jacksonville State.
The following weekend, September 16th through the 17th, the Hurricanes will host the Orange and Green Challenge featuring Louisville, Michigan State and Sacramento State. Louisville finished the season ranked 15th in the country in the final USA TODAY/CSTV Top 25 Coaches Poll while Sacramento State qualified for the 2004 NCAA tournament.
“The Orange and Green Challenge will be an excellent caliber tournament with Louisville, Michigan State and Sacramento State,” said Lantagne Welch. “It’ll be able to tell us where we are as a team at the time.”
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“Every match will be very meaningful and it will be great for the rivalries within the conference.” Head coach Nicole Lantagne Welch on the new ACC Schedule |
After the Orange and Green Challenge, the Hurricanes go right into conference play. The 2005 season will see a reconfigured ACC schedule that will forgo the ACC tournament and adopt a double-round robin schedule where all 11 teams will play one another both at home and away. This new schedule will establish a true ACC champion.
“We’re really excited about playing a double-round robin schedule in the ACC this year,” said Lantagne Welch. “We get to play everyone home and away and we’ll be able to have a true conference champion that way.”
“Every match will be very meaningful and it will be great for the rivalries within the conference and will also help in preparation to make it to the NCAA tournament. We feel that it’s the hardest task to win a regular season title.”
The Hurricanes will open their ACC slate at Boston College, who will be entering the conference in 2005, on September 23rd before heading to College Park for a match against ACC Tournament champion Maryland on September 25th.
The following weekend, the Hurricanes return to Coral Gables for a two-match homestand against Clemson (Sept. 30) and Georgia Tech (Oct. 2). Georgia Tech finished the season ranked 17th in the final USA TODAY/CSTV Top 25 Coaches Poll after reaching the Minneapolis Regionals during the 2004 NCAA Tournament.
The Hurricanes will host two matches against Virginia (Oct. 14) and Virginia Tech (Oct. 16) before a weekday match against instate rival Florida State on October 25th. The following weekend Miami will host Maryland and Boston College on October 28th and 30th, respectively.
Miami will end the regular season with a four match homestand against North Carolina (Nov. 18), NC State (Nov. 20), Wake Forest (Nov. 23) and Duke (Nov. 25). The Blue Devils finished the 2004 regular season third behind Miami in the final ACC standings.
The Hurricanes enjoyed a successful inaugural season in the ACC where they overcame early setbacks to post their fourth winning season in as many years just missing post season play. Miami finished second in the ACC with an 11-5 record and a 17-9 overall mark.
For up-to-date Miami volleyball news, results and statistics stay tuned to hurricanesports.com.
