June 25, 2009

2009 ECU Volleyball Schedule in PDF Format

GREENVILLE, N.C. - Leading a roster that features six returning starters and no true freshmen, newly-appointed head coach Pati Rolf announced the East Carolina volleyball team's 2009 schedule Thursday. The slate features three regular season tournaments, eight home matches and the first televised home contest in program history.

"The team is very excited about the schedule," Rolf stated. "We are looking forward to our preseason which will give us the opportunity to tune our lineup and settle into a system. The quality of teams against which we are competing and the opportunity to play close to home will be a great advantage for us. Our five seniors are ready to get started and are working hard to bring the students and fans of East Carolina some great volleyball."

While the Pirates will play all of their non-conference contests close by in Virginia or here in North Carolina, the squad still desires to improve its road performance from a year ago. In 2008, ECU won just one of nine road matches but looks to draw on its experience to eliminate any road woes this campaign.

The Pirates kick off the season Aug. 28-29 in Richmond, Va. as participants in the Third Degree Sportswear VCU Invitational. East Carolina matches up against Wright State in its first contest before closing the event opposite St. John's and the host Rams.

The team makes a quick return to the Commonwealth State the next weekend, taking on Virginia Tech, Arkansas and Norfolk State in the Hawthorne Suites Hokie Invitational before heading back to the Old North State Sept. 11-12 for the Winston-Salem State Lady Rams Invite and three games against WSSU, UNC Asheville and Wofford.

After a trip to Campbell on Sept. 22, the Pirates open the home portion of the schedule Sept. 29 against UNC Wilmington. The match against the Seahawks also serves as the campaign's only midweek tilt inside Minges Coliseum.

The quest for the program's first-ever Conference USA championship begins in Huntington, W.Va. on Sept. 19 when the Pirates face Marshall. East Carolina also travels to UCF, Southern Miss, SMU, Tulsa, Memphis, UAB, Rice and Houston while hosting the Knights, Golden Eagles, Thundering Herd, Tigers, Blazers, UTEP and Tulane during conference play.

The 2009 C-USA Tournament is scheduled for Nov. 19-21 at Tudor Fieldhouse on the campus of Rice University. The champion of the event earns the league's automatic berth to the 2009 NCAA Championship. Rolf believes that the Pirates will be in the mix when the postseason approaches.

"Our conference will be interesting this year with a coaching change at Tulane and the graduation of tremendous student athletes from many of the schools," Rolf explained. "I believe it is a wide open year for all of us. Our match against Memphis is also scheduled to be televised by CBS College Sports and that is a perfect opportunity to showcase East Carolina and our women's volleyball team."

That contest with the Tigers will be shown on tape delay Nov. 10 at 7 p.m.

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