• 2009 Women’s Volleyball Schedule Link
• 2009 Printable Schedule (PDF)
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| Rafaella Chaves and Gabriela Garcia will return as sophomores for the Pirates in 2009, beginning the season Sept. 2 at the University of Saint Mary. |
Not only will the Pirates be entering a new conference for the 2009 campaign, but they’ll also do it with a new head coach taking the reins of both Park University volleyball programs.
“The AMC is a really tough conference, both with the competition and the travel to some very difficult places to play,” said first-year head coach Rick Mischka. “I am interested to see how each team matches up, and how we match up against the other teams in the conference.”
The 2009 season-opener sends the Pirates to the University of Saint Mary on Wednesday, Sept. 2, at 7 p.m., and after the local-rivalry match with the Spires, Park will travel to Point Lookout, Mo., for four matches in the 2009 Mazzio’s Classic at College of the Ozarks.
Opponents for the tournament at C of O will be announced at a later date, and after the event, Park will travel to Graceland University on Sept. 9, marking the first of six-straight matches against opponents from the Heart of America Athletic Conference.
Park will play Baker, Benedictine, Avila and William Jewell in the 2009 Baker University Invitational, Sept. 11-12 before concluding the season-opening 11-match road swing on Sept. 15, traveling to MidAmerica Nazarene in Olathe, Kan.
“We play a lot of Heart of America opponents, which is a tough conference,” Mischka said. “It’s a good opportunity to see great competition that is relatively close to home, and also helps to play teams that have the potential to be ranked which will only help us become a better team.”
In addition to the quality of competition in 2009, the schedule will also be a personal challenge for Mischka.
“It's always tough to prepare for the season when you didn’t create the schedule,” Mischka said. “You don't know what the previous coaches’ goals were with the opponents, and I think the best you can do is to prepare for each individual match without looking too deep into the calendar.”
The Pirates’ 2009 home opener will also be the team’s first conference test of the AMC schedule, when Park hosts McKendree on Sept. 17. Hannibal-LaGrange visits Breckon Sports Center two days later, and the Pirates’ first AMC road contest is Sept. 22, when Park travels to Stephens College in Columbia, Mo.
Park will then host Missouri Baptist and Harris-Stowe State in conference play Sept. 25-26 before a Sept. 30 date with Avila. The Pirates begin the month of October on the road, going away from home for six-straight matches, starting at NAIA national tournament participant Columbia College on Oct. 2.
During the road trip, Park will also travel to William Woods, Hannibal-LaGrange and McKendree, with two matches also scheduled against Williams Baptist in Walnut Ridge, Ark. The Pirates return home Oct. 20-21 to play Stephens and William Woods before the final road trip of the season, sending Park to a triangular at William Jewell, paired with two conference contest in St. Louis, Mo., Oct. 30-31 at Missouri Baptist and Harris-Stowe State.
The regular season ends Nov. 3 inside Breckon Sports Center when the Pirates host Columbia on Senior Night at 7 p.m., and the AMC postseason tournament begins on campus sites Nov. 10.
The tournament continues with semifinal matches on Nov. 12 and concludes with the league’s championship match on Nov. 14. All conference tournament matches are played at the home court of the better seed, and the tournament champion advances to the NAIA national tournament, which begins with opening-round matches on campus sites Nov. 21.
The NAIA tournament continues Dec. 2 in Sioux City, Iowa, where the national champion will be crowned on Dec. 6 at Sioux City’s Tyson Events Center. Park finished the 2008 season tied for fourth in the MCAC with a record of 7-7, finishing the year with 11 wins, overall.
For more information on the 2009 Park University women’s volleyball schedule, log on to www.parkathletics.com and click on the women’s volleyball homepage.
2009 WVB Schedule Notes
• Park begins its 2009 women’s volleyball schedule with a season-long 11-match, seven-date road trip between Sept. 2 and Sept. 15.
• The 2009 season will feature a 16-match American Midwest Conference schedule, featuring seven home matches and nine matches on the road. Park will play a home-and-home schedule with seven of its eight league opponents, while both matches against Williams Baptist College will be played in Walnut Ridge, Ark.
• This season’s schedule includes one NAIA tournament qualifier in a pair of conference matches against 2008 AMC Champion Columbia College.
• Park will play nine matches against opponents from the Heart of America Athletic Conference, including four against opponents who won 20 or more matches last season. The Pirates will play Benedictine, who went 20-9 last season and 7-3 in the conference, which placed second, as well as three teams who finished at 6-4 in a third-place tie in the HAAC. Between Sept. 9 and Sept. 15, Park will play six-straight HAAC matches.
• Five dates during the 2009 season will be multi-match dates, as Park will play two on both Sept. 4 and 5 at the C of O Mazzio’s Classic in Point Lookout, Mo., two each day on Sept. 11 and 12 in the Baker University Invitational, and on Oct. 24, Park will take part in a triangular with both William Jewell and Culver-Stockton in Liberty, Mo.
• Park’s eight home matches are the fewest since four seasons ago, when Park went 6-2 in eight home matches in 2004.
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