June 3, 2011
2011 Women's Volleyball Schedule in PDF Format 
SPOKANE, Wash. - Gonzaga University women's volleyball head coach Dave Gantt released the Zags 2011 schedule Friday. The upcoming schedule is highlighted by matches against five 2010 NCAA Tournament participants, three in-season tournaments and five matches against first-time opponents.
"Our 2011 schedule branches out from a traditionally regional approach and allows us an opportunity to have more of a national feel," explained Gantt, in his third year at the helm. "If we are going to grow our program and compete successfully in the West Coast Conference we need to expand our range annually and create the right blend of competitive experiences. National exposure, coupled with more regional and conference success, will be a shot in the arm to our program."
For the seventh-consecutive season the Bulldogs begin play on the road. GU will open the new campaign at the UniWyo Wyoming Invite, hosted by the University of Wyoming, Aug. 26-27. Gonzaga will play four matches at the tournament, including two against first time opponents. The Zags open the tournament against the University of South Dakota, who is entering its first year as a member of the Summit League and who Gonzaga will play for the first time in school history, followed by a match against host Wyoming. GU closes out the invite facing DePaul University, another first-time opponent and member of the Big East Conference, and Oregon State University.
"There is solid competition is the Wyoming Tournament," stated Gantt. "Although no 2010 NCAA tournament teams, Wyoming and Oregon State would seem to be the most capable of playing at a high level."
The Bulldogs second tournament of the season is the Northwest Challenge, this year hosted at the Martin Centre by Gonzaga, Sept. 2-3. The Northwest Challenge, in its fourth-year, also includes Boise State University, the University of Washington and Portland State University. The Huskies made a splash in the 2010 NCAA Tournament, reaching the quarterfinals, before falling to the University of California. The Vikings also earned a bid to the NCAA Tournament by winning the Big Sky regular-season and tournament crowns.
Gonzaga's final pre-conference tournament is the Hoosier Classic, hosted by Indiana University, Sept. 9-10. The Bulldogs will play three matches, all against first-time opponents, including two against 2010 NCAA Tournament members. GU opens the tournament, held in Bloomington, Ind., against the host Hoosiers, who earned an at-large bid to last year's NCAA Tournament and fell in the Sweet Sixteen to the University of Southern California. The second day of the tournament will feature the Bulldogs playing Eastern Illinois University, members of the Ohio Valley Conference, and Niagara University, who won the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) title in 2010 to earn its second-ever bid to the NCAA Tournament.
"The timing of the Indiana Tournament will be just right as we will mix it up with Niagara and Indiana, both tournament participants in 2010," said Gantt. "Indiana, from the Big Ten Conference, begins the 2011 season with the highest RPI of any of this year's competitors; a good team for us to play in preparation for our conference season.
" I like that we face four 2010 NCAA Tournament participants in our non-conference schedule, and it's even more exciting that we play two of those matches on our home court and an additional match on a neutral court."
The Zags begin West Coast Conference play Sept. 22, one week earlier than usual, but will make a quick trip to Seattle University for a match on Sept. 14 before conference season begins. The West Coast Conference season starts one week sooner this season due to the conference adding Brigham Young University, which now makes the WCC a nine-member conference.
Gonzaga will play a total of 16 WCC matches in 2011, including matches against the University of San Diego (Oct. 8, Nov. 3); the lone WCC team to make a splash in last season's NCAA Tournament. The Bulldogs open conference with four-straight home matches; hosting Loyola Marymount University (Sept. 22) and Pepperdine University (Sept. 24) the opening weekend.
"As always, the West Coast Conference will be very competitive and with the addition of BYU the challenges have increased," explained Gantt. "Conference play will once again be a grueling test and we will be challenged in every one of the 16 matches. It's imperative that we have immediate success as we play our first four conference competitions in the Martin Centre. A new and positive twist will have us playing our home conference matches at new times; weekday matches will begin at 6:00 pm and our Saturday matches will be played at Noon."
Gonzaga finished the 2010 season with a 4-27 overall mark and a 1-13 record in West Coast Conference play.
SCHEDULE NOTES:
• In a switch this year, all weekday HOME West Coast Conference matches will begin at 6 p.m. In previous years, matches had a start time of 7 p.m.
• For the second consecutive year, all Saturday HOME West Coast Conference matches will begin at Noon.
• New West Coast Conference member Brigham Young University finished with a 14-16 overall record in 2010 and was 9-7 in the Mountain West Conference to finish fourth in the MWC standings.
• The nonconference schedule includes teams from the following conference: Summit League (South Dakota), Mountain West (Wyoming, Boise State), Big East (DePaul), Pacific-12 (Oregon State, Washington), Big Sky (Portland State), Big Ten (Indiana), Ohio Valley (Eastern Illinois), MAAC (Niagara) and an independent in Seattle.
• Gonzaga will play 11 home matches; eight home West Coast Conference matches and the three home matches of the Northwest Challenge.
• The first-time opponents include: South Dakota, DePaul, Indiana, Eastern Illinois and Niagara.
• The opponents that made the NCAA Tournament in 2010 are: Washington (Quarterfinals), Portland State (First Round), Indiana (Sweet Sixteen), Niagara (First Round), San Diego (Second Round).
