July 17, 2007
2007 Schedule in PDF Format
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EL PASO, Texas - UTEP volleyball head coach Ken Murphy released the 2007 volleyball schedule on Tuesday. The slate includes three tournaments, 13 home dates and 10 away matches.
"I think the preseason schedule is exactly what our young team needs to prepare for conference play," Murphy said. "Similar to C-USA, there is variation in the strength and style of play of our opponents. We will really have to be good at focusing on ourselves and play consistently in every match."
The Miners open the 2007 season in the Sun Bowl Association Volleyball Invitational on Aug. 24-25. Included in the tournament field are Marist, North Dakota State and Texas Southern.
"The Sun Bowl Tournament will be a great event again this year," said Murphy. "The tournament committee has put together a field of teams that will really test us, and I believe that there will be a lot of close matches."
UTEP will head to Houston, Texas, Aug. 31 and Sept. 1 for the Texas Southern Volleyball Tournament where it will face Louisiana-Monroe, Mississippi Valley State and NCAA tournament participant Prairie View. The Miners embark for Portland, Ore., for the Nike Portland Invitational where they will take on coastal power houses, Pacific, tournament host Portland and Portland State.
"The Nike Portland Invitational will be our most serious tournament test of the pre-season," Murphy said. "We will play three good teams from strong conferences that will all help us measure how much progress we've made."
The Miners travel to Las Cruces, N.M. on Sept. 11 to battle I-10 rival New Mexico State.
UTEP opens the 16-match conference season on Sept. 12 when it hosts Tulane. Tulane returns two-time All-American Sara Radosevic and C-USA Freshman of the Year, Ksenija Vlaskovic.
"The Conference USA schedule is going to be much tougher than the past couple of years," said Murphy. "There are a lot of all-conference players returning for their senior season and I think it will be a mature, competitive conference. Every match will present a test for our team and we are looking forward to the challenge."
The Miners play Memphis at home on Sept. 21 before heading to UAB on Sept. 23. After a pair of home matches, the Miners will hit the road for a two-week spread.
After a 13-match conference slate, the Miners will revisit their rivalry to play the Aggies at home on Oct. 30.
The Orange and Blue will finish the season with three conference matches against Houston, Rice and Tulane, before heading into the conference tournament Nov. 15-18 in Huntington, W.Va.
