May 30, 2007
Head Coach Tim Horsmon announced a challenging 2007 schedule for the University of Dayton volleyball team on Thursday. The Flyers will play 31 regular-season matches in hopes of heading back to the Atlantic 10 Championship Match for the fifth year in a row with a roster that features nine returning letterwinners and a incoming recruiting class that was recently ranked No. 22 in the nation by PrepVolleyball.com. Click here for the complete 2007 UD volleyball schedule.
Dayton has won three straight Atlantic 10 Regular Season Championships and has advanced to the A-10 Finals each of the past four years. The 2003, 2004 & 2005 Atlantic 10 Champions hold the highest winning percentage of any active A-10 team in conference play (149-49, .753). UD has been home to four Atlantic 10 Players of the Year and two A-10 Setters of the Year under the direction of head coach Tim Horsmon, who was named the 2005 A-10 Coach of the Year. The Flyers have recorded 12 consecutive winning seasons and six straight 20-win campaigns. Dayton was 22-11 in 2006 including a victory over #18 Arizona - the highest ranked opponent ever defeated by the Flyers.
UD heads into the 2007 season looking to not only continue its role as one of the top programs in the Atlantic 10 Conference, but to make its mark on a national stage. 2006 A-10 Setter of the Year Erin Schroeder will team up with 2006 A-10 First Team pick Jamie-Lee Richards and 2006 A-10 Second Team selection Robynne Green to form a solid corps of returning talent that will be further bolstered by Adrienne Green, who ranks among the NCAA all-time leaders in digs per game as well as junior outside hitter Nicole Bateman.
The Frericks Center has been the site of the largest crowds to watch an Atlantic 10 team in each of the past three seasons including three different matches with at least 1,000 fans. UD broke the all-time volleyball attendance record at Frericks Center twice in 2006 with 1,111 fans against Purdue on Sept. 6, 2006 and 1,341 fans against Xavier on Sept. 29, 2006.
DaytonFlyers.com sat down with UD Head Coach Tim Horsmon to get his thoughts on the upcoming 2007 schedule and the team's preparation in the offseason.
DaytonFlyers.com: The pre A-10 schedule is filled with many teams that are in the mix for NCAA bids each season while the A-10 schedule will be challenging as always. What was your overall strategy in scheduling this season?
Tim Horsmon: We had a really tough and rewarding schedule last year and wanted to maintain as much as we could that competitive level. We begin the year hosting Illinois, Bowling Green and IPFW. Illinois has one of top recruiting classes coming in with a number of really solid Big 10 performers returning and finished the year with a RPI of 36. Bowling Green ended up second last year in the MAC and returns all but one player. IPFW is always a really well coached team and this tournament should be a great jumping off point for us to begin the year.
We make two return trips this year to a pair of non-conference teams that played in Frericks Center last season. The Purdue tournament (Mortar Board Premier) should be challenging with Utah last year being a Top 20. Host Purdue had a great season last year making it to the Sweet 16 and also spending most of the year in the Top 20. North Carolina each year is one of the best in the ACC. Another great tournament and this weekend should give us a great idea where we are in consideration to some of the best in the country.
We have Cincinnati at home and then travel down to Wake Forest for a tournament along with Radford and Jacksonville for the weekend. Wake has really made some strides since playing us last year in Dayton and I think they are going to have a good year with their second year coach.
We travel to play in Baltimore at Towson University in Mid September. We play Western Kentucky, which I would consider as one of the best mid-major programs in the country and can play with almost anyone. Towson has had a great run the last few years and UMBC should make strides in their conference this year as well.
We also have Wright State, Youngstown State and Cleveland State to fill out our non-conference schedule in late October before the A-10 Championship. Our Thanksgiving weekend will be an A-10/MAC challenge playing two of the best in that conference in Miami and Western Michigan. This will be held in Oxford, Ohio this year.
I think our schedule will prepare us for another tough A-10 schedule. I like the teams that we are playing and I think this will allow us to improve our RPI playing these programs and give us experience playing different types of talented programs.
DF.com: UD will play in two early tournaments that feature some of the top teams in the nation. Does having to play tough teams early help to motivate the team's workouts throughout the summer?
TH: I think following the way we ended last year that our team is ready to have a great Summer and take steps forward to getting back to another NCAA tournament. We are not satisfied with how we ended the season last year and will do what we need to do to right the ship. I think each of us from coaches to players need to put together a great next three months and be ready to get after it with a chip on our shoulder when we arrive in early August. I do know that our players are used to playing against the best programs in the country and I think we walk in confident with whomever we are playing.
DF.com: The Flyers will only play 10 home matches this season. What type of challenge does this present for the team this year?
TH: It sure isn't ideal but we are in a good situation with as many Juniors and Seniors that are on this team and the experience that they bring. We should be too fazed by the travel and not being at home as much as would be desired. The A-10 and NCAA Championships are on the road and not in Frericks so we need to get used to it as much as possible. No excuses for not accomplishing the goals and meeting the challenges in front of us.
