Volleyball Announces 2009 Schedule

Bulls to face two-time defending national champion Penn State

Todd Kress

BUFFALO, NY – First-year head coach Todd Kress has announced his schedule for the upcoming 2009 season. The Bulls will take part in three tournaments and will have 14 non-conference matches in addition to their 16-match conference schedule. In all, the Bulls will play four teams who went to the NCAA Tournament last year, including two teams that made it to the Sweet Sixteen and the eventual national champion.

The Bulls will begin the season at home by hosting the University at Buffalo Invitational. The Bulls will host Boston College in their home opener on Fri., Aug. 28 and will then play host to both Fordham and Seton Hall on Aug. 29.

The following weekend, UB will head to the Nittany Lion Invitational where it will play the two-time defending national champions and tournament host Penn State on Fri., Sep. 4. The Following day, the Bulls will face Pittsburgh and Robert Morris. From there, the Bulls will host the next four matches at Alumni Arena.

The Bulls host Niagara on Sep. 9 and during the weekend of Sep. 11-12, the Bulls will welcome in Youngstown State for a two-game series. The Bulls will then host Syracuse on Tue., Sep. 15.

UB will then travel to the Cornell Tourney beginning on Fri., Sep. 18 against St. John’s. On Saturday, the Bulls will face Colgate in the afternoon before wrapping up with the host Big Red in the evening.

UB will wrap up non-conference play when they take a break from Mid-American Conference action as they face Canisius on the road on Oct. 27.

“The 2009 schedule will be a very exciting one,” said Kress. “Our opening weekend (UB Invitational) will be a great challenge right out of the gate and then we head to Penn State the next weekend. The pre-season schedule will challenge us both physically and mentally which is exactly what we need to prepare for the MAC. Last year was a breakout year for this conference and we look forward to the challenges every single weekend as we take our first steps in rebuilding this program.”

Buffalo’s Mid-American Conference schedule will begin on the weekend of Friday, September 25 and Saturday, September 26 when the Bulls travel to Miami (OH) and Bowling Green, respectively. 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 (on the road against Ball State, Central Michigan and Eastern Michigan and at home against Northern Illinois, Toledo and Western Michigan). The Bulls end the regular season at home, hosting Toledo on Sat., Nov. 14.

For the seventh season, every MAC school will qualify for the Mid-American Conference Tournament, and first-round matches will take place on Tuesday, November 17 on the campus sites of the higher seeds. The quarterfinals, semifinals and final match will be on Friday, November 22, Saturday, November 23 and Sunday, November 24 in Toledo, OH.

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