March 23, 2006

DAYTON, Ohio - Since taking over the reigns at the University of Dayton three years ago Head Coach Tim Horsmon has taken the Flyer volleyball program to new heights. Horsmon now leads UD into the toughest schedule in school history in 2006, which was released Thursday.

The three-time defending Atlantic 10 champions will face seven NCAA Tournament teams from 2005 including five that finished last season ranked in the CSTV/AVCA Top 25 Coaches Poll.

"We are really excited about next year and the opportunity to play the caliber of teams on the schedule. We believe we are ready to compete at a very high level and our players want to see where we stack up." Horsmon said. "We have worked hard the last three years and we finally have a team that has the maturity to compete against many of the top teams and conferences in the country."

The 2006 schedule includes opponents from the ACC, Big Ten, BIG EAST, Pac 10 and WCC. The group also includes four schools that advanced past the second round of the NCAA Tournament.

"For the Flyer program to take the next step we have to compete with the teams from these conferences and begin to challenge these volleyball programs," Horsmon remarked. "After losing in the Second Round of the NCAA Tournament a couple of years ago, the natural progression for our team is to reach the Sweet Sixteen. We can only prepare for this goal by challenging teams already having a strong national reputation."

UD opens the season at Frericks Center with the Flyer Classic against Youngstown State, Southern Illinois and IUPUI on Aug. 25 and 26.

"I think this tournament will be a great jumping off point for some of our younger players and to prepare our new setter for a challenging season," Horsmon commented. "I also look forward to having former Flyer coaches Joe Bonner and Christy Utnage back here at UD. Katie Noble (Southern Illinois Head Coach) is a former player from my time at Robert Morris University making this tournament very special for me personally."

The Flyers then head south for the Louisville Tournament during the first weekend in September to face a pair of NCAA Tournament teams from 2005 in Arizona and host Louisville.

"Both these teams had strong years last Fall, both were ranked in the Top 10 in the nation most of the year and will give us our first taste of playing nationally ranked competition," Horsmon said. "Both teams are big, athletic and very well coached."

The Wildcats fell just two points shy of a trip to San Antonio for the 2005 National Semifinals and were ranked seventh in the final CSTV/AVCA Top 25 Poll after a 25-6 record and a second place finish in the Pac 10 Conference. The match should be a showdown between two of the best middles in the nation as 2006 USA A2 National Team members Faye Barhorst (Dayton) and Dominique Lamb (Arizona) square off.

The host Cardinals finished the 2005 season ranked 11th in the CSTV/AVCA Top 25 Poll after advancing to the Regional Semifinals. U of L was 31-3 and finished second in its first season of BIG EAST play last year.

After leaving Louisville, the Flyers will return to Dayton to host Purdue from the Big Tern Conference on Sept. 6. The Boilermakers were also selected to the NCAA Tournament with an at-large berth and ranked 17th in the CSTV/AVCA Top 25 Poll. Purdue was 25-9 in 2005 and advanced to the NCAA Regional Semifinals before falling to eventual National Champion Washington.

UD will remain at home to host the Dayton Marriott Invitational on Sept. 8 & 9 at Frericks Center. 2005 NCAA Tournament at-large participant LSU will take part along with Wake Forest and Indiana.

"Our conference is getting stronger each year and I think this preseason schedule will obviously be tough but will require us to be ready every week," Horsmon said. "Our goal for each year is to get back to the NCAA tournament. We are now working to improve our seeding given the opportunity to return to the tournament and we feel this type of schedule will give us the chances we need to compete on a national stage."

Dayton then hits the road to face its third Big Ten opponent in less than a week when it faces Illinois on Sept. 13 in Champaign. From Champaign, the Flyers head to Minneapolis to take part in the Minnesota Tournament featuring Connecticut and NC State as well as the host Golden Gophers. UM ranked 21st in the final CSTV/AVCA Top 25 Poll last season and advanced to the Second Round of the NCAA Tournament to cap off a 29-6 campaign.

Also on the non-conference schedule for Dayton are matches against local rivals Wright State (Sep. 30) and BIG EAST member Cincinnati (Oct. 31) before rounding out the regular season with a trip to California to face National powers Pepperdine and Loyola Marymount of the West Coast Conference during November. Both Pepperdine and Loyola Marymount were two of five schools to advance to the NCAA Tournament in 2005 from the WCC, which ranked fourth in the RPI report at the end of the season. Also the Waves of Pepperdine advanced to the Regional Semifinals and were ranked 18th in the final CSTV/AVCA Top 25 Coaches Poll last season.

"This will be a great weekend both competitively and as one of our last weekends on the road with two terrific seniors Faye Barhorst and Margo Moeller," Horsmon remarked. "Pepperdine maintains a history of one of the premier programs in the country and Loyola Marymount has been really tough the past few years. Many consider this conference to be one of the best five in the country. Both teams give us a chance to improve seeding or RPI to move us up for the tournament or to improve our chances for an at large bid."

In addition to a challenging non-conference schedule, Dayton looks to become just the second team in conference history to win the Atlantic 10 Championship four consecutive times. The Flyers will face fellow A-10 West Division opponents Duquesne, Rhode Island, Saint Louis and Xavier twice while taking on East Division foes Charlotte, George Washington, Fordham, La Salle and Temple once each.

Dayton will have a chance to defend its title on its home court this season when the top four teams in the conference come to Frericks Center for the 2006 Atlantic Championships on Nov. 10 & 11. The Tournament will also give Horsmon a chance to extend his NCAA record 14-0 mark in conference tournament play while looking for his eighth conference title in eight years to begin his career as a collegiate head coach.

"As mentioned before, our Atlantic 10 programs are improving every year," Horsmon said. "I really look for next year to be the toughest year since my arrival in this conference with so many of our programs making big strides forward. We take a lot of pride in the success we have had in the A-10 and striving to compete for another championship will be our first priority."

In 2005, UD earned its fifth consecutive 20-win season with a 24-11 overall record and became the just the fourth school ever to win three-straight Atlantic 10 Championships. The program also boasted the A-10 Player of the Year for the third straight season and its fourth AVCA Honorable Mention All-America honor in the last three years. The Flyers also won 19 consecutive matches at one point, which was the 11th longest winning streak in the nation this season and paved the way for UD's fourth-ever Atlantic 10 Regular Season Championship.

In 2006, Dayton returns all but one starter from a squad that went to five games before falling at #11 Notre Dame in South Bend in an NCAA First Round match. Among the returners are two-AVCA All-America Faye Barhorst and All Atlantic 10 selections Robynne Green, Adrienne Green and Kortney Norris.