Volleyball Announces 2004 Schedule

Volleyball Announces 2004 Schedule

Utah State will play 27 matches on the season, including 16 against NCAA Tournament teams from a year ago

Ten teams that participated in the 2003 NCAA Tournament, including one Final Four opponent, highlight the 2004 Utah State women's volleyball schedule that was announced July 19.

The Aggies will host eight NCAA Tournament teams from a year ago, including in-state rival Brigham Young on Sept. 28 and Final Four participant Hawaii on Nov. 23 to close out the regular season. In all, Utah State will play 12 matches at the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum, a venue where the Aggies have gone 40-14 over the last five seasons.

Other NCAA Tournament teams from a year ago to visit the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum include Cal State Northridge, Pacific, UC Santa Barbara, Idaho, UC Irvine and Long Beach State.

Utah State will open the year against national power Stanford on Sept. 3 at a tournament hosted by Nevada, before playing road matches at Idaho State and Utah on Sept. 8 and 11. Utah State's first home matches of the year will be on Sept. 16 and 18 against Big West opponents Cal State Northridge and Pacific.

After 14 years of competition in the Big West Conference, Utah State will be playing its final season in the league before moving to the Western Athletic Conference in 2005. Utah State will play a total of 18 conference matches on the year in a round-robin format with each school playing each other member institution both home and away.

Utah State returns four starters and seven letter-winners from last year's team that went 18-12 overall and finished in a tie for fifth-place in the Big West with a 10-8 record. Among the players returning for Utah State is junior first-team all-Big West performer Zuzana Cernianska, along with Beth Hodge and Mari Ruddick who were both named to the league's all-freshman team during the 2003 season.