Bison Volleyball Schedule Set for 2008
7/15/2008 5:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
FARGO, N.D.--North Dakota State has finalized a 25-match women's volleyball schedule for the 2008 season, including eight home Summit League matches and the Doublewood Inn Classic tournament at the Bentson Bunker Fieldhouse in September.
NDSU will face Illinois-Chicago, UTEP and Northern Colorado in the Doublewood Inn Classic presented by ASICS. The four-team round robin begins at 10 a.m. Friday, Sept. 5, and Saturday, Sept. 6. It coincides with the "Hail The Bison" athletics reunion on campus that weekend.
“Our players and coaching staff look forward to our first opportunity to host a non-conference tournament,” Hinterstocker said. “I appreciate the efforts that our administration, the Doublewood Inn and ASICS have put forth to help put this event together and I encourage all of our fans to come join us for some great volleyball competition.”
The Doublewood Inn Classic is one of three tournaments to begin the year. NDSU opens the season Aug. 29-30 at the University of Montana tournament against UC Riverside, Gonzaga and Montana, and the Bison will play in the Allstate Sugar Bowl in New Orleans Sept. 12-13 against Maryland, Tulane and Louisiana Tech.
“Our schedule is full of quality opponents who will each provide our team with a different challenge night in and night out,” Hinterstocker said. “There are so many different styles of play in The Summit League, we felt it was important to expose our team to as many different types of teams and styles of play as we could during the non-conference schedule in order to best prepare us for league play.”
Summit League action begins with back-to-back home matches against Oral Roberts on Sept. 20 and South Dakota State on Sept. 27. Those are the only two matches in a 19-day stretch between the Sugar Bowl and an Oct. 3-4 road swing to Oakland and IPFW.
North Dakota State returns home for four straight league matches Oct. 10-11 against IUPUI and Western Illinois, and Oct. 17-18 against UMKC and Centenary. The Bison are on the road for four straight before hosting IPFW on Nov. 7 and Oakland on Nov. 8.
The regular-season ends Nov. 14-15 at Centenary and Oral Roberts. The top four teams in the regular season advance to the Summit League championship tournament Nov. 21-22 at Oral Roberts.
“Last year's competition in The Summit League was extremely exciting for both our players and fans as the race for the regular-season title went right down to the last match of the season,” Hinterstocker said. “I believe this will be another great season of volleyball as the league is full of talented players and coaches who are all looking to earn a trip to the NCAA tournament.”
North Dakota State was 20-8 overall and earned the No. 2 seed for last year's league tournament with a 12-4 record. The Bison ranked 45th in Division I home attendance with an average of 852 over eight dates.
