Terps Announce 2011 Schedule
6/2/2011 8:00:00 AM | Volleyball
June 2, 2011
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COLLEGE PARK, Md. - The University of Maryland volleyball team has announced its 2011 fall schedule. The challenging slate is highlighted by 16 home matches, including a pair of early season tournaments.
The Terps begin the year on the road in Knoxville at a difficult tournament at the University of Tennessee, where the squad will face Villanova and Ohio in addition to the host Volunteers Aug. 26-27.
Maryland will spend the next two weekends at home, welcoming VCU, Quinnipiac and Xavier Sept. 2-3 before Sacred Heart, Delaware and Yale head to College Park Sept. 9-10. The Terps end the non-conference season with a tournament at Ohio State with contests against the Buckeyes, Akron and Albany Sept. 16-17.
The Atlantic Coast Conference slate kicks off at Boston College (Sept. 20) before the Terps battle North Carolina and NC State at home (Sept. 23/25). Virginia (Sept. 30) and Virginia Tech (Oct. 2) cap a four-game conference homestand.
"I believe the ACC is going to have another great year and continues to grow into one the premier conferences in the country," head coach Tim Horsmon said. "I don't think many people know that the ACC's RPI ranked third in the country last year only behind the Big 10 and Pac 10.
"Every weekend is tough and every program seems to continue to improve from recruiting to quality of play and system. I wouldn't be surprised to see five or six teams get into the tournament once again. Our intention is to be one of those teams."
The Terps will spend the next two weekends on the road with ACC matches at Georgia Tech, Clemson, Wake Forest and Duke before heading back to College Park for games against Sunshine State foes Florida State and Miami Oct. 21 and 23.
Following its final two road matches of the season at Virginia Tech and Virginia, Maryland concludes the regular season with league tilts against Duke (Nov. 18), Wake Forest (Nov. 20) and Boston College (Nov. 23).
"I really like how our schedule sets up this year. We will be playing really good programs throughout our pre-conference season and we will have a pretty good idea where we are by the time our ACC season starts," Horsmon said. "We put an emphasis of scheduling strong RPI teams who can give us the best chance of reaching the NCAA tournament, which of course is our immediate goal.
Maryland returns nine letterwinners from last season, including ACC All-Freshman honoree outside hitter Mary Cushman, who tallied a team-high 343 kills.
"We are excited about this season and the personnel that we have returning and the incoming freshmen that could play a big part in the success of our season," Horsmon said. "We have some real talent that can play with anyone in the conference and maybe for the first time since my arrival we will have quality depth at each position. It should be an exciting year for Terp volleyball."
The Terps went 19-13 a year ago, including a .500 mark in ACC play.
