Toledo Opens 2010 Campaign with Rocket Classic This Weekend
8/23/2010 8:33:00 PM | Women's Volleyball
TOLEDO, OH - Toledo opens its 2010 campaign this weekend with the ninth-annual Rocket Classic. UT will host No. 12 Michigan, Binghamton and Loyola (MD) in a four-team tournament on Friday and Saturday, Aug. 27-28. The contests will be played in Savage Arena.
The Rockets opened practice on Monday, Aug. 9 and have spent over two weeks preparing for the upcoming season. UT returns five starters from last year's 17-12 squad that finished tied for second place in the MAC's West Division.
Juniors Amber DeWeerdt and Kassie Kadera are expected to lead the Rockets after receiving second-team All-MAC accolades a season ago. DeWeerdt averaged 3.30 kills and 3.36 digs per set last year, while Kadera registered a league-best 10.91 assists per set.
DeWeerdt led the way in UT's first-ever Blue-Gold match last Saturday with 14 kills and 10 digs.
"Amber became a lot stronger and is playing with more confidence since last year," Toledo Head Coach Greg Smith said. "She probably took the biggest strides of all of our hitters, and there are a lot of exciting things about her game right now."
This weekend's tournament will begin a series of non-league challenges to prepare for the 2010 Mid-American Conference campaign. UT's non-conference slate features six schools (No. 9 Michigan, No. 40 Michigan State, No. 48 Furman, No. 79 Wisconsin, No. 83 Marquette and No. 86 Creighton) that were ranked in the Top 100 of last year's final NCAA RPI rankings.
"I always think as a coach and as a player you want to play tough competition because it's a fun challenge," Smith said. "That's what our scheduling philosophy is going to be, because we have to learn to win matches against top competition at some point.
TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE
Following is the schedule for the ninth-annual Rocket Classic with all matches to be played in Savage Arena (7,300):
Friday, Aug. 27
5:00 p.m. Binghamton vs. No. 12 Michigan
7:00 p.m. Loyola (MD) vs. Toledo
Saturday, Aug. 28
10:00 a.m. Binghamton vs. Toledo
Noon Loyola (MD) vs. No. 12 Michigan
5:00 p.m. Binghamton vs. Loyola (MD)
7:00 p.m. No. 12 Michigan vs. Toledo
MICHIGAN MATCH TO BE TELEVISED LIVE ON BCSN
The Rockets' 7:00 p.m. match vs. Michigan on Saturday, Aug. 28 will be televised live on BCSN as well as on RocketVison at utrockets.com. There will also be a video stream of UT's contests vs. Binghamton and Loyola (MD). There is a monthly-subscription fee of $9.95 or an annual fee of $49.95.
ROCKETS RECEIVE AVCA TEAM ACADEMIC AWARD
Toledo was awarded the AVCA/Molten Team Academic Award for the 2009-10 school year after posting a 3.40 grade-point average during that time period. It marked the 10th straight season the Rockets have received the award which is the second-longest streak in the country.
The award honors colleges that displayed excellence in the classroom by maintaining at least a 3.30 cumulative team grade-point average during the entire school year. The Rockets were one of a record 94 NCAA Division I programs to be honored.
WELCOME ABOARD
Toledo has a talented recruiting class joining its program this season. Coming to UT from the Hoosier State are Adria Pryor (Greenwood, IN), Lauren Rafdal (Carmel) and Becca Reidy (Indianapolis) with Dakota Harkins (Canal Fulton, OH) and Jordan Kielty (Canton, MI) hailing from the Buckeye and Wolverine State, respectively.
ROCKETS VS. THE FIELD
Toledo posted a 3-1 win over Binghamton in the 2006 Rocket Classic and is the only meeting between the two schools...The Rockets are winless in 13 previous meetings vs. Michigan with five of those setbacks coming in Toledo...UT has yet to face Loyola (MD).
MORE CLASSIC NOTES
UT has captured the Rocket Classic title on five occasions with Michigan, UW-Milwaukee and Xavier each winning it once...Toledo has a 21-7 (.750 all-time win mark in the Rocket Classic.
A LOOK AHEAD
The Rockets will compete in two more tournaments before opening conference play on the road at Western Michigan and Northern Illinois on Sept. 24-25.
Toledo will travel to Tuscaloosa, AL to compete in the Bama Bash on Sept. 3-4 before heading to Milwaukee, WI for the Milwaukee Invitational on Sept. 10-12. The Rockets will wrap up non-conference action with a home date vs. Michigan State on Sept 17.
Video Interview with Head Coach Greg Smith on This Weekend's Rocket Classic
