Indoor Volleyball Announces 2011 Schedule
Challenging slate features 12 NCAA Tournament participants from 2010, including rival Miami on ESPNU
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (seminoles.com) – Florida State University indoor volleyball head coach Chris Poole has announced the team’s 2011 schedule that features 12 NCAA Championship participants from a season ago and a home mid-week matchup against Miami that will be televised nationally on ESPNU.
"I am very excited about the schedule this season and the challenge we have before our volleyball program,” Poole said. “This will again be a very tough preseason schedule and it will give us the opportunity to be prepared going into ACC Conference play.”
FSU’s televised matchup against the Hurricanes will occur on Wednesday, Sept. 14, with a special start time of 8 p.m. at Tully Gym. The 36th volleyball meeting between both schools is also the conference opener for the Seminoles.
This year’s competition will feature 16 of 30 matches against NCAA Tournament teams from 2010, highlighting a rigorous slate.
“We have over half of our matches against teams that competed in the NCAA Tournament and we are going to have to really step up big if we want to have a successful season,” Poole added. “We have two main goals each season, with one being to compete for a conference title and the other to make the NCAA Tournament.”
The rest of the slate includes quality competition in every match. The Seminoles will host the Florida State Invitational for the 10th consecutive season, facing non-conference rival Kentucky to open the year on Friday, Aug. 26 at 7 p.m. The two schools have competed in back-to-back five-set thrillers in 2009 and 2010, with the former match leading to FSU’s first-ever trip to the Elite Eight in Minneapolis, Minn.
The Seminoles conclude the invite with matches on Saturday, Aug. 27 against Albany (11:30 a.m.) and Tulsa (7 p.m.). FSU and the Golden Hurricane will meet for the first time, as Tulsa highlighted the 2010 season with a victory in the first round of the NCAA Championship against No. 13 seeded LSU.
FSU returns to Gainesville, Fla., for a matchup against the Gators on Aug. 30. It then travels to Newark, Del., for a tournament hosted by the University of Delaware that includes quality matchups against Northern Iowa, Delaware and UC-Irvine. UNI earned a No. 5 national seed at last season’s NCAA Championship.
FSU wraps up its early-season nonconference slate in Dayton, Ohio, for contests against Michigan, Dayton and Pepperdine on Sept. 9-10.
The Seminoles are pitted against every Atlantic Coast Conference opponent twice except Boston College and Maryland. FSU will only make road trips to face those two teams on Oct. 21 and 23, respectively. The disparity means that the Seminoles play nine conference matches at home and 11 on the road.
Reigning Elite Eight participant Duke travels to Tallahassee on Friday, Sept. 30. Last season, a short-handed Seminole squad took down the 2010 conference champions in another five-set classic at Tully Gym. FSU also hosts Wake Forest (Oct. 2), Georgia Tech (Oct. 14), Clemson (Oct. 16), Virginia Tech (Oct. 28), Virginia (Oct. 30), North Carolina State (Nov. 4) and North Carolina (Nov. 6).
FSU ends the regular season with five consecutive road matches at Wake Forest, Duke, Clemson, Georgia Tech and Miami.
Seminole volleyball is looking to continue what has been a high point in the program’s 35-year history. FSU made consecutive NCAA postseason appearances for the first time since the 1997 and 1998 seasons in 2010, and also made it to the second round in consecutive postseason appearances for the first time in school history.
“We fought through a lot of adversity last season with injuries and players unavailable for matches,” Poole said. “However, we also showed in the NCAA Tournament how well we were capable of playing. We have a lot returning this season and if the girls come back in shape and ready to play in August, this team has a chance of being very good this season.”
In 2011, the Seminoles hope to make their third consecutive NCAA Championship appearance, which would fall one year shy of the school record for most consecutive NCAA postseason appearances set from 1987-90 (four seasons).
Check back with Seminoles.com throughout the summer for updated coverage of the FSU indoor volleyball team.
