WOMEN'S VOLLEYBALL

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BUFFALO, NY - The University at Buffalo volleyball team and first-year head coach Jim Lodes have announced their schedule for the upcoming 2005 season. The Bulls will open the schedule with a road match at Marist on August 27 and then participate in three tournaments prior to the start of the Mid-American Conference slate on Friday, September 23.

The Bulls will host Maryland-Eastern Shore, Army and Colgate at the Western New York Invitational from Friday, September 2 through Saturday, September 3 to open the home portion of the schedule. The Bulls will participate in two other tournaments during the month of September - at Washington State, taking on the host Cougars, Idaho and Oral Roberts, and at West Virginia, taking on the host Mountaineers, Memphis and Duquesne. Single matches at Marist, at Albany (August 28), at home against Niagara (September 13), at Canisius (October 5) and at Syracuse (October 11) will round out the non-conference slate.

"I'm anxious for the season to get here," said Lodes. "Our schedule prior to the MAC beginning is excellent. Albany and Idaho made it to the first round of NCAAs last season with Albany winning the America East. Army, Maryland-Eastern Shore and Oral Roberts finished second in their respective conference tournaments, and Memphis made it to their conference semifinals. Traveling to Washington State and West Virginia along with hosting the Western New York Invitational will allow us to experience great competition and prepare us to compete in the MAC. The MAC should be very competitive this year and this schedule will help us be ready for the start of conference play."

Buffalo's Mid-American Conference schedule will begin on the weekend of Friday, September 23 and Saturday, September 24 when the Bulls play at Kent State and at defending MAC Champion Ohio. The 16-match conference slate will see the Bulls play each member of the East Division (Akron, Bowling Green, Kent State, Miami and Ohio) twice, both home and away, and each member of the West Division once (at Ball State, Central Michigan and Eastern Michigan and home against Northern Illinois, Toledo and Western Michigan). The Bulls end the regular season with a four-match homestand during the first two weeks of November, hosting Toledo, Akron, Northern Illinois and Western Michigan.

For the third season, every MAC school will qualify for the Mid-American Conference Tournament, and first-round matches will take place on Tuesday, November 15 on the campus sites of the higher seeds. The quarterfinals, semifinals and final match will be on Friday, November 18, Saturday, November 19 and Sunday, November 20 in Toledo, OH.

Click here to see the Bulls' complete 2005 schedule.