Hurricanes Announce 2006 Schedule
April 10, 2006
CORAL GABLES, Fla. – University of Miami women’s volleyball head coach Nicole Lantagne Welch announced the 2006 Hurricane volleyball schedule Monday.
Miami’s 2006 schedule will feature three non-conference tournaments, where four of the Hurricanes’ nine opponents reached the 2005 NCAA Tournament. The Hurricanes will likewise play a full Atlantic Coast Conference slate.
The Hurricanes will open the season on the road at the Alabama Tournament Aug. 25-26. There, Miami will face NCAA Tournament teams Alabama, Kansas and Alabama A&M.
“I think the Alabama Tournament will be a great challenge,” said Lantagne Welch. “We’ll get to face three NCAA Tournament teams from a year ago right off the bat. We’ll know where we stand right at the start of the season.”
The following weekend the Hurricanes will head to the Michigan State Tournament. The two-day tournament will take place Sept. 1-2 and will feature Michigan State, Eastern Michigan and Villanova.
Miami will then return home for the Hurricane Invitational Sept. 15-16 featuring Loyola Marymount, Florida A&M and Jacksonville. Both Loyola Marymount and FAMU reached the 2005 NCAA Tournament.
After the Hurricane Invitational, the Hurricanes will head into ACC play where the conference will once again employ a double-round robin schedule where all 11 teams play one another both at home and on the road to ensure a true conference champion.
“I think the round-robin schedule is great for the conference. In playing a round-robin schedule, you have a clear-cut champion that has proved throughout the course of the season that they deserve it,” Lantagne Welch said. “Last year, it hurt us a bit to not have to tournament just because we were a young team and we got better as the season ended. I still think the double-round robin is great for the conference. The ACC got three teams into the NCAA Tournament and we hope to build on that.”
“The one thing after going through it one year is how critical it is to take advantage of every opportunity that you have. It’s harder to catch-up and so you have to be really opportunistic.”
The Hurricanes will open ACC play with a Tuesday night match against in-state rival Florida State Sept. 19. Both teams claimed wins on the road last season in close matches.
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“The one thing after going through it one year is how critical it is to take advantage of every opportunity that you have. It’s harder to catch-up and so you have to be really opportunistic.” Head Coach Nicole Lantagne Welch on the ACC’s Double-Round Robin Schedule |
Lantagne Welch expects another close battle against the Seminoles, “It’s always going to be a high intensity, high level volleyball match. I think that it’s just exciting to host them and start of our conference play.”
Miami will remain at home the following weekend, welcoming Boston College Sept. 22 and Maryland, who reached the second round of the 2005 NCAA Tournament, Sept. 24.
The Hurricanes will next travel to Clemson (Sept. 29) and Georgia Tech (Sept. 30) before hosting NC State (Oct. 6) and ACC champion North Carolina (Oct. 8) the following weekend.
The Hurricanes will then begin a stretch where they will play six matches in 10 days. Miami will travel to Virginia on Oct. 13 before squaring off against Virginia Tech the following evening. Tuesday, Oct. 17 Miami will take on Florida State in Tallahassee before returning home for two matches against Duke (Oct. 20) and Wake Forest (Oct. 22).
After matches at Maryland (Oct. 27) and Boston College (Oct. 29), the Hurricanes will host their final homestand of the season with four matches against conference foes Georgia Tech (Nov. 3), Clemson (Nov. 5), Virginia Tech (Nov. 10) and Virginia (Nov. 11).
Miami will then travel to North Carolina (Nov. 17) and NC State (Nov. 18) before closing out the regular season with matches against Wake Forest (Nov. 22) and Duke (Nov. 24).
Lantagne Welch is confident that the Hurricanes, who finished the 2005 season with a 16-14 overall record and 11-11 mark in ACC play, are up to the challenge of facing a tougher conference in 2006.
“Our conference was very young as a whole a year ago so I expect the level of play to be stronger for all teams. I think that we’ll be improved as will other teams. In the ACC we’ve learned that every night is a challenge and you have to bring your best game. I look forward to seeing this team take on that challenge.”
For the full 2006 Miami Volleyball schedule click HERE.
