University of Connecticut Athletics
Volleyball Hosts Spring Tournament on Saturday
4/9/2009 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
April 9, 2009
STORRS, Conn. - This weekend the University of Connecticut volleyball team will host its own spring tournament after starting the offseason with a few matches at Boston College. The Huskies will host Army and Yale in a three-match tournament at Harry A. Gampel Pavilion on Saturday. All are welcome to attend with the first match set to begin at 10 a.m. featuring the Huskies and the Black Knights.
Start times for the following two matches are approximate as Army will take on Yale at 11:30 a.m. while the Huskies will wrap up the competition with a 1 p.m. clash against the Bulldogs.
UConn returns all but one started from the 2008 squad that finished the season with a 21-10 overall record. The Huskies reached the BIG EAST Tournament for the third-consecutive season under head coach Holly Strauss-O'Brien after posting a 10-4 mark in conference action. It was the first 20-plus win season for volleyball since 2003 and the most wins in the BIG EAST since the 1998 squad that finished as the co-regular season champions.
Last season, Army won a 3-0 decision over the only BIG EAST opponent it faced in the 2008 season. The Black Knights earned the win over Syracuse at the Orange's tournament on Sept. 14. Army wrapped up the season with a 26-4 overall record and a 13-1 mark in conference play. Seeded-second in the Patriot League Tournament, the Black Knights were eliminated by third-seeded Colgate in a 3-0 loss.
Yale made its second NCAA championship appearance in program history in 2008 and advanced to the second round with a five-set victory over Ohio. The Bulldogs fell in three to the eventual NCAA Champion Penn State, ending their season with a 21-6 overall record. Yale was crowned the Ivy League champions with a 13-1 conference record to earn the NCAA Tournament bid.
Following Saturday's tournament, the Huskies senior class of Megan Frey (Chaska, Minn.) and Kate Seabaugh (St. Louis, Mo.) will be honored at the end-of-the-year banquet.
