Northwestern University Athletics
Northwestern Announces 2006 Volleyball Schedule
6/9/2006 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
June 9, 2006
EVANSTON, Ill. -- Northwestern head coach Keylor Chan has announced his squad's schedule for the upcoming 2006 season, featuring matches against several nonconference top-10 opponents and a trip to Hawaii.
Northwestern, coming off the program's first 20-win season since 1988 and their first-ever win in the NCAA Tournament, will open 2006 with an Aug. 29 home match against UIC.
The Wildcats then will play two-consecutive tournaments on the road, beginning at Western Michigan with matches against the hosts, IUPUI and Charleston Southern.
"This is a good field with Western Michigan and IUPUI being at the top of their respective conferences the last four years," Chan said. "It will be a good test to see where the team's strengths are early in the season."
Northwestern then takes off for sunny Hawaii and matches against two top-10 squads from a year ago in Stanford and the host Wahine in addition to a matchup with Fairfield.
"Hawaii is a very special place to play because of the fan support and passion for volleyball on the island," Chan said. "Perennial powers Hawaii and Stanford will be in the tournament, and it will have the feel of a Big Ten weekend."
The Wildcats then return home to host their own Wildcat classic, bringing Eastern Illinois, Pittsburgh and 2005 NCAA round of eight qualifier Arizona to Evanston.
"Our home tournament will be one of the strongest in recent years," Chan said. "Arizona is perennially a top-15 program and Pittsburgh always contends for the BIG EAST title. Eastern Illinois always is competitive within its conference."
Following its slate of nonconference matchups, the Big Ten season gets underway with four-consecutive conference home matches. Minnesota and Wisconsin get things going Sept. 22-23 before Illinois and Iowa come to town Sept. 27-29.
"This year the conference could be the most competitive in history," Chan said. "Penn State is the reigning champion and will be picked to repeat, but on any given night in the Big Ten any team has the ability to win. It will be one of the most exciting seasons in the conference in recent memory."
