Indiana University Athletics
IU Volleyball Releases 2009 Schedule
4/27/2009 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
April 27, 2009
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - The 2009 Indiana University volleyball schedule has been released and it includes 14 non-conference matches beginning on Aug. 28 before the Big Ten season starts on Sept. 25.
The 34 matches are the most scheduled since the 1985 season in which the Hoosiers went 19-16 during a 35-match regular season. In 1995, Indiana competed in 34 contests, including a first round match in the NCAA Tournament.
Head Coach Sherry Dunbar and her staff have put together a competitive non-conference schedule that includes four preseason tournaments and six opponents whom qualified for the NCAAs a season ago.
Year number three of the Sherry Dunbar era officially launches in Texas for a four-team tournament at the University of Houston. Indiana is set to take on Southeastern Louisiana to start things off on Friday, Aug. 28. The Hoosiers will also face the University of New Orleans and the host Cougars of Houston the following day.
Next on the docket is the first of two home tournaments, the IU adidas Classic. It is a five-team competition with a pair of matches on both Friday (Sept. 4) and Saturday (Sept. 5). The Cream and Crimson first face Tennessee-Martin and NCAA Qualifying Kentucky on the first day prior to combating Murray State and Illinois-Chicago on day two of the home event.
Indiana will then pack their bags the following week for a trip to Athens, Ohio. The tournament at Ohio University may prove very telling on where the Hoosiers stand in 2009 as three of their four opponents participated in the NCAA Tournament last season, including: Delaware, Missouri State and Ohio. The Hoosiers will also play against Eastern Kentucky while visiting Bobcat country from Sept. 11-12.
University Gym will play host to its second preseason tournament of 2009 the next weekend (Sept. 18-19). Indiana is slated to take on Western Michigan, Alabama A&M and North Carolina A&T in the IU Invitational. Western Michigan advanced to the Sweet 16 in '08 while Alabama A&M also punched their ticket to the national championship tournament.
The opposition obviously doesn't get any easier once conference play begins as the Big Ten is considered one of, if not the best volleyball league in the nation. In addition to Penn State claiming the national championship, the Big Ten had three other teams proceed to the Sweet 16, making up 25% of the final 16 teams vying for the national title.
The Hoosiers remain in Bloomington for the opening weekend of Big Ten action, hosting Michigan and Michigan State on Sept. 25 and 26, respectively. As travel partners with Purdue in 2009, Indiana will face the Boilermakers on a pair of Wednesday night showdowns. The first meeting between the two rivals is set for Sept. 30 in West Lafayette. Indiana will complete that week with their first of three Sunday matches on the year, playing at home against Minnesota on Sunday, Oct. 4 at 1 p.m.
IU Volleyball is also going to be a part of one of the biggest weekends in all of IU Athletics ... Homecoming weekend. The festivities will start with Hoosier Hysteria Friday night inside Assembly Hall on Oct. 16. The volleyball team is set to kick off the night in front of a jam-packed Assembly Hall for the third straight year before both the women's and men's basketball teams conduct their first official practices. Indiana fans' attention will then shift to the gridiron for football's Homecoming affair with Illinois on Saturday before shifting back to the U-Gym court on Sunday when the Hoosier netters play Wisconsin at 1 p.m.
The Big Ten season will conclude on Nov. 28 with a road contest at Iowa. First round action at the NCAA Tournament will be played on Dec. 3-4.
Click here for the complete schedule
Click here for a printable schedule 
