Complete 2015 Scehdule
SPOKANE, Wash.--Entering the season with goals of an NCAA Tournament berth, Gonzaga volleyball head coach Dave Gantt has put together a schedule designed to both prepare the Bulldogs for a rigorous West Coast Conference season and give them an opportunity to reach their first NCAA Tournament in 25 years.
"Over the previous four to five years, the athletes on our current roster have worked diligently to position themselves well for this opportunity," Gantt said. "We'll get to line up against a Pac-12 or a Big 12 opponent during each of the four non-conference weekends, and it will not get any easier when conference play begins as most of our WCC weekends will include perennial NCAA participants."
Gonzaga will bring a veteran roster into the 2015 season, graduating just one player from the team that led the WCC in assists and kills last season. The experienced Bulldogs will face strong competition throughout the 2015 slate as eight teams on this year's schedule advanced to the 2014 NCAA Tournament: four from the WCC and four in non-league play. Additionally, they will face three Pac-12 squads, two from the Mountain West, and one Big 12 team in addition to foes from the Big Sky, WAC, MAAC, and Summit League.
"I really like how we have matched our 2015 schedule to the maturity and depth of our team as well as what we need to experience to be prepared for WCC competition," said Gantt.
The slate starts out with the eighth annual Northwest Challenge, where the Zags will host Washington, Portland State, and Boise State Friday, Aug. 28 - Saturday, Aug. 29. Washington will be an early test as the Zags' first opponent of the season that Friday, while the Portland State and Boise State will close out the Bulldogs' opening tournament slate on Aug. 29. The Huskies reached the third round of the NCAA Tournament in 2014 and held the nation's fourth-highest RPI. Boise State finished fifth in the Mountain West with an 18-12 overall record, and Portland State competed in the Big Sky tournament.
After the Northwest Challenge, the Zags will remain in the Martin Centre for the Gonzaga Invitational the next weekend. The Bulldogs host Montana, Utah, and Wyoming during that tournament, starting the competition against the Cowgirls on Friday, Sept. 4. The next day, Gonzaga and Montana will begin the morning session of matches, and the Zags will square off against the Utes to end the tournament that night. Utah will be the Zags' second opponent that made the NCAA tournament last season while both the Montana and Wyoming contests will be rematches from 2014.
Next, the Zags head to Arizona for their first four matches away from Spokane. They'll start the weekend at the GCU Invite Friday, Sept. 11 with a morning match against Niagara before facing host school Grand Canyon in the nightcap. On Saturday, Sept. 12, the Zags will take on Southern Utah to close out their involvement in the tournament. Instead of returning home immediately, the Bulldogs will stick around the Phoenix area and play at Arizona State on Sunday, Sept. 13, in a match that will be broadcast on the Pac-12 family of networks. The Sun Devils reached round two of the NCAA Tournament last season.
Gonzaga will wrap up the non-conference slate with a journey to Lawrence, Kan., for the Jayhawk Invitational. Gonzaga will open the tournament by facing Kansas, yet another NCAA team, on Friday, Sept. 18. The next day, the Bulldogs will square off against WAC regular season champion UMKC in the morning, and they'll conclude the tournament against South Dakota State that night.
Upon returning from Kansas, the Zags will begin WCC play with a pair of home matches Sept. 24 and Sept. 26 against Pacific and Saint Mary's. The next weekend, they'll head to the Bay Area and face the other two northern California teams in the league, San Francisco and Santa Clara. The Broncos reached the NCAA Tournament after tying for third in the conference last year.
After the trip to northern California, the Zags will return to Spokane and host Loyola Marymount and Pepperdine Thursday, Oct. 8 and Saturday, Oct. 10. They'll then travel to BYU and San Diego the next weekend before closing out the first half of the conference slate Saturday, Oct. 24 versus Portland in the Martin Centre. BYU made a run to the National Championship match last season, falling in three sets to Penn State. San Diego also earned an NCAA berth.
The Bulldogs will remain at home for matches against Santa Clara and San Francisco Oct. 29 and Oct. 31, closing out the season series against both squads. They then return to southern California to play at Pepperdine and Loyola Marymount the following weekend before coming back to Spokane for their final home matches of the year, Nov. 12 versus San Diego and Nov. 14 versus BYU. Last season, the Lions were the fourth and final WCC squad to reach the NCAA Tournament.
Gonzaga will end the 2015 regular season slate with road matches at Saint Mary's, Pacific, and Portland, playing in Portland the Tuesday before Thanksgiving.
During the WCC season, all Thursday home matches will begin at 6:00 p.m., and the Saturday contests will begin at 12:00 p.m. with the exception of the match against Portland Oct. 24. First serve against the Pilots is scheduled for 6:00 p.m. that day. An announcement regarding ticket packages to all home games will be made in the near future.
Gantt feels the well-rounded schedule will help certainly prepare the Zags for WCC play once late September rolls around, but also that the competition will help lead to matches in December.
"The NCAA selection committee has indicated they'd like to see teams scheduling to develop a competitive resume for the post season," he said. "With a schedule that includes 15 matches against teams whose RPIs were in the Top 65 in 2014, I certainly think we've accomplished that goal."
