BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - The Samford volleyball team released its 2010 schedule Monday featuring match-ups with four 2009 conference champions and an NCAA Tournament participant. The Bulldogs will play in four preseason tournaments, hosting one of their own, before diving into their third season in the Southern Conference.
"The Southern Conference volleyball coaches have asked that we play a stronger preseason schedule and I think we have done that," Samford head coach Derek Schroeder said.
Samford opens the 2010 season competing in a tournament at solid Southeastern Conference opponent, Arkansas, August 27-28. The tournament features Grambling State and UMKC, both teams the Bulldogs are undefeated against. Samford's match against host team Arkansas will mark the first meeting between the two teams.
The Bulldogs will then return home to host Troy on Wednesday, Sept. 1, in their first home match of the 2010 season. They will then host their own tournament, the Samford Invitational, (Sept. 3-4) which is made possible by a sponsorship from McDonald's. Ronald McDonald will be in attendance and there will be games for kids. The two-day tournament includes a feature match versus Syracuse on Saturday night, who finished fifth in the Big East in 2009. The Bulldogs will also take on Northwestern State and North Texas on Friday and Tennessee Tech on Saturday.
A trip to Oxford, Miss. (Sept. 10-11), is next on the agenda for Samford as it takes on its second SEC opponent in the first three weeks of play. The Rebels will host Samford along with Southern Miss and Louisiana-Lafayette in their home tournament. USM is the reigning Conference USA regular-season champion and was Samford's second opponent last year in the Samford Invitational. Louisiana-Lafayette holds a 6-1 overall series lead over the Bulldogs.
Samford wraps up preseason tournament play in Houston, Texas, in the Nike Invitational II hosted by Rice University (Sept. 17-18). Rice is the reigning Conference USA Tournament champion and has only played Samford once before, taking a 3-2 victory over the Bulldogs in 2001. Samford will also take on Stephen F. Austin and Arkansas State in that tournament.
"Playing feature matches at all three away tournaments and our home tournament will prepare us for those types of intense pressure matches in conference play," Schroeder said.
The Bulldogs start SoCon play with four straight road matches. First, Samford heads to UNC Greensboro and Elon (Sept. 24-25), who tied for third place in the North Division in 2009. The Bulldogs then head back to North Carolina to take on Davidson on Oct. 2 before meeting up with league rival Chattanooga for their first midweek road challenge.
Oct. 8-9 finds Samford at home hosting Western Carolina and Appalachian State for a pair of evening matching before heading back out on the road to take on SoCon Tournament Champion College of Charleston and The Citadel Oct. 16-17. The rivalry between Samford and the CofC Cougars has become heated since the Bulldogs joined the league, especially after the Cougars snapped Samford's 22-match home win streak and knocked the Bulldogs out of the league tournament in the 2009 semifinals. Samford has gone winless against the Cougars in the past two years and the Bulldogs are eager to get their first win over Charleston in 15 years.
"I am a little worried about starting with four road matches in four tough places to win," Schroeder said. "We will need to show maturity quickly in the conference season in order to be successful against tough opponents."
The next weekend, Samford returns home to host the SoCon Regular-Season Champion, Furman (Oct. 23). The Saturday match is the first in a five-match home swing for the Bulldogs. Samford will play Wofford in front of a home crowd the following Sunday (Oct. 24) before playing host to Chattanooga (Oct. 27), UNC Greensboro and Elon (Oct. 30-31).
The Bulldogs' final road trip of the season is to Western Carolina and Appalachian State (Nov. 6-7). Samford has swept the Catamounts on the past two trips to Cullowhee, N.C., and the last two matches in Boone, N.C., between the Bulldogs and the Mountaineers has resulted in five-set battles. Samford won in 2008 and Appalachian State won in 2009.
Samford returns home for the final home match of the season on Nov. 12. The Bulldogs will take on Georgia Southern in an evening match while they honor their seniors prior to the match.
The 2010 Southern Conference Tournament will be held in Charleston, S.C. The event, which will be hosted by the College of Charleston, returns to an eight-team format this year after operating under a four-team format in 2009. The three-day tournament will be held Nov. 19-21.