Volleyball Announces Schedule for 2012 Campaign
5/2/2012 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
May 2, 2012
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. - University of Alabama second-year head women's volleyball coach Ed Allen announced the schedule for the 2012 season on Wednesday. The Crimson Tide will play a schedule that includes 31 overall matches, 20 during Southeastern Conference play, and three mid-season tournaments.
Alabama will play a total of 11 contests during the non-conference portion of the season, with all matches being played in tournament competition. "We believe our preseason schedule will challenge the talent of our team, while preparing us for the rigors of SEC play," Allen said.
The 2012 campaign gets underway when the Tide battles Holy Cross on Aug. 24, at 10 a.m. CT, in the Northeastern Tournament in Boston, Mass. UA then plays tournament host Northeastern later that day, before wrapping up the event against Sacred Heart on Saturday, Aug. 25.
Alabama returns to Tuscaloosa to open the home schedule at Foster Auditorium against Alabama A&M on Tuesday, Aug. 28 at 7 p.m. Following the single home match, UA hits the road for three matches in Elon, N.C., in the Elon Phoenix Classic, Aug 31-Sept 1. The tournament includes North Carolina Central, Gardner-Webb and Elon.
UA will host the Hampton Inn Bama Bash on Sept. 7-8, with 10 matches being played in two days at Foster Auditorium. The five-team field includes Alabama State, East Tennessee State, Lamar and Austin Peay. The teams will play a round robin format, with each team playing four games, one against each team in the field. "We're excited to bring four teams to Tuscaloosa for our tournament, which will create a competitive environment at Foster Auditorium," Allen said.
SEC play begins on Sept. 14, when the Tide hosts LSU at 7 p.m., and the six-match homestand comes to a close when the Tennessee Lady Vols come to town on Sept. 16. UA's first SEC road match will be Friday, Sept. 21, at Georgia, before a match at rival Auburn on Sept. 23.
After a home contest against Mississippi on Sept. 28, Alabama welcomes the two newest members of the SEC to Foster Auditorium on back-to-back Sundays. Texas A&M comes to Tuscaloosa for the first time ever on Sept. 30, and then the Missouri Tigers make the trip south for the first time since 2002, on Oct. 7.
"Both Texas A&M and Missouri are coming off NCAA tournament appearances and both have a history of going to the post-season. So from a volleyball perspective, a very strong SEC has just become a whole lot better with the addition of these two teams," Allen said.
Following road matches at South Carolina and LSU, UA returns home for matches against Florida (Oct. 19) and Georgia (Oct. 21), before hitting the road for four straight matches at Arkansas, Tennessee, Texas A&M and Mississippi State.
The home schedule wraps up with three straight matches from Nov. 9-18, which include contests against Kentucky, South Carolina and Auburn. The final regular season weekend has the Tide at Mississippi on Nov. 21, and in Columbia, Mo., against Missouri.
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