ASHEVILLE, N.C. ? Four tournaments to open the season plus a home match with Western Carolina highlights the 2009 UNC Asheville volleyball schedule that was announced by head coach Julie Torbett on Friday.
The Bulldogs will play four in-season tournaments in the first four weekends of the year. UNC Asheville's one home match during that stretch will be a home date with mountain rival Western Carolina on Sept. 2.
“We're very excited about the 2009 schedule,” explained Torbett. “I believe we have a challenging non-conference schedule that should prepare us for the rigors of the Big South Conference race. The Big South Conference should be quite balanced this season and our non-conference schedule will force us to be ready for each match.”
The Bulldogs hold their annual Blue-White Scrimmage at Justice Center on August 25 before opening the season at the North Carolina Central Tournament on August 28-29. After hosting Western Carolina on Sept. 2, the Bulldogs travel to USC Upstate for their tournament. Asheville faces Canisius, The Citadel and USC Upstate in the tournament. The game with The Citadel will be a special one for Coach Torbett as she'll coach against one of her former players in Cally Geiger. Geiger enjoyed a great career for the Bulldogs (1995-98) and was one of Torbett's first recruits. She has been the head coach at The Citadel for the past two seasons.
Asheville plays in tournaments at Winston-Salem State (Sept. 11-12) and South Carolina State (Sept. 18-19) before the Bulldogs open Big South Conference play at home against Gardner-Webb (Sept. 22).
Torbett's club has a three-game homestand in late October against East Tennessee State (Oct. 20), Radford (Oct. 24) and Presbyterian (Oct. 27) before embarking on a four-game road trip at Charleston Southern (Oct. 31), Gardner-Webb (Nov. 3), Liberty (Nov. 6) and High Point (Nov. 7).
The Bulldogs finish the regular season with home matches against Coastal Carolina (Nov. 13) and Winthrop (Nov. 14).
Asheville went 18-14 last season and advanced to the semifinals of the Big South Conference Tournament for the seventh time in the last eight years. The Bulldogs return 10 letterwinners and five starters from last year's club.
