The Women’s Volleyball 2009 schedule featured 15 home matches and 32 matches overall, eight of which were televised. The schedule generated alot of criticism, quite unfairly, as Gordon Brunskill of the Centre Daily Times points out in this article. Here’s the 2009 Schedule:
| Date | Opponent | Location | Time | Media | Notes/Stats |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 08/28/09 | Miami (Oh) | St. Louis, MO | 5:00 p.m. CT | GameTracker | W 3-0 Notes Stats |
| 08/29/09 | Alabama | St. Louis, MO | 1:00 p.m. CT | GameTracker | W 3-0 Notes Stats |
| 08/29/09 | Saint Louis | St. Louis, MO | 7:00 p.m. CT | GameTracker | W 3-0 Notes Stats |
| 09/04/09 | Buffalo | Rec Hall | 7:00 p.m. ET | GameTracker | W 3-0 Notes Stats |
| 09/05/09 | Robert Morris | Rec Hall | 10:00 a.m. ET | GameTracker | W 3-0 Notes Stats |
| 09/05/09 | Pittsburgh | Rec Hall | 7:00 p.m. ET | GameTracker | W 3-0 Notes Stats |
| 09/11/09 | Loyola (Md) | Durham, NC | 5:00 p.m. ET | W 3-0 Notes Stats |
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| 09/12/09 | Charleston | Durham, NC | 12:00 p.m. ET | W 3-0 Notes Stats |
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| 09/12/09 | Duke | Durham, NC | 12:00 p.m. ET | W 3-0 Notes Stats |
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| 09/18/09 | Temple | Philadelphia, PA | 7:00 p.m. ET | W 3-0 Notes Stats |
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| 09/19/09 | Saint Francis (PA) | Rec Hall | 10:00 a.m. ET | GameTracker | W 3-0 Notes Stats |
| 09/19/09 | Temple | Rec Hall | 7:30 p.m. ET | BTN Live Stream; GameTracker | W 3-0 Notes Stats |
| 09/25/09 | Northwestern | Evanston, IL | 7:00 p.m. CT | GameTracker | W 3-0 Notes Stats |
| 09/26/09 | Illinois | Champaign, IL | 7:00 p.m. CT | BTN LIVE; GameTracker | W 3-0 Notes Stats |
| 10/02/09 | Iowa | Rec Hall | 7:00 p.m. ET | BTN Live Stream; GameTracker | W 3-1 Notes; Stats |
| 10/03/09 | Wisconsin | Rec Hall | 7:00 p.m. ET | BTN Live Stream; GameTracker | W 3-0 Notes; Stats |
| 10/07/09 | Ohio State | Columbus, OH | 7:00 p.m. ET | BTN LIVE; Live Stats | W 3-1 Notes; Stats |
| 10/11/09 | Minnesota | Minneapolis, MN | 1:00 p.m. CT | BTN LIVE | W 3-0 Notes; Stats |
| 10/16/09 | Michigan | Ann Arbor, MI | 7:00 p.m. ET | Game Tracker ESPN2 10-18-09 | W 3-2 Notes; Stats |
| 10/17/09 | Michigan State | East Lansing, MI | 6:30 p.m. ET | Game Tracker | W 3-0 Notes; Stats |
| 10/23/09 | Indiana | Rec Hall | 8:00 p.m. ET | ESPNU LIVE; Game Tracker | W 3-0 Notes; Stats |
| 10/24/09 | Purdue | Rec Hall | 7:00 p.m. ET | BTN 10-25-09; Game Tracker | W 3-0 Notes; Stats |
| 10/28/09 | Ohio State | Rec Hall | 7:00 p.m. ET | BTN LIVE; Game Tracker | W 3-0 Notes; Stats |
| 10/30/09 | Minnesota | Rec Hall | 7:00 p.m. ET | BTN 11-01-09; Game Tracker | W 3-0 Notes; Stats |
| 11/06/09 | Wisconsin | Madison, WI | 7:00 p.m. CT | Game Tracker | W 3-0 Notes; Stats |
| 11/07/09 | Iowa | Iowa City, IA | 7:00 p.m. CT | Game Tracker | W 3-0 Notes; Stats |
| 11/13/09 | Illinois | Rec Hall | 7:00 p.m. ET | BTN Live Stream; Game Tracker | W 3-0 Notes; Stats |
| 11/14/09 | Northwestern | Rec Hall | 7:00 p.m. ET | BTN Live Stream; Game Tracker | W 3-0 Notes; Stats |
| 11/20/09 | Purdue | West Lafayette, IN | 7:00 p.m. ET | BTN Live Stream; Game Tracker | W 3-0 Notes; Stats |
| 11/21/09 | Indiana | Bloomington, IN | 7:00 p.m. ET | Game Tracker | W 3-0 Notes; Stats |
| 11/27/09 | Michigan State | Rec Hall | 7:00 p.m. ET | BTN Live Stream; Game Tracker | W 3-0 Notes Stats |
| 11/28/09 | Michigan | Rec Hall | 7:00 p.m. ET | BTN Live Stream; Game Tracker | W 3-0 Notes Stats |
| 12/04/09 | Binghamton (NCAA 1st Rnd) | Rec Hall | 7:30 p.m. ET | Game Tracker | W 3-0 Notes Stats |
| 12/05/09 | Penn (NCAA 2nd Rnd) | Rec Hall | 7:30 p.m. ET | Game Tracker | W 3-0 Notes Stats |
| 12/11/09 | NCAA Reg. Semis | Gainesville, FL | 6:00 p.m. ET | tba | |
| 12/12/09 | NCAA Reg. Final | Gainesville, FL | |||
| 12/17/09 | NCAA Semifinals | Tampa, FL | |||
| 12/19/09 | NCAA Final | Tampa, FL | |||
The critics would have us believe that Penn State dodged tough opponents this season. That simply isn’t true. For one thing, there are a number of tough opponents on the 2009 schedule (cue Russ Rose pointing out that every opponent is tough). Rich Kern’s Preseason Poll ranks Minnesota #8, Illinois #10, Michigan #16, St. Louis #17, Purdue #21, Wisconsin #34, Duke #36 (and picked #1 in the ACC Preseason Poll), and Michigan State #39. Granted, the PacTen has higher-rated teams, and more of them, but that’s hardly the fault of Penn State or Russ Rose.
As to the preseason schedule, you can’t schedule a team unless it agrees to play you. Russ Rose told Gordon Brunskill that he “tried very hard to get a number of people to play, talked to a number of teams in the top 10, and there were some people that didn’t want to play us home or away. . . . And there were some that didn’t want to come and play us. Scheduling is not as easy as maybe people think it is.”
Rose believed Nebraska had agreed to play Penn State at University Park this season — a match that would have drawn enormous attention, given Penn State’s hard fought 3-2 victory over the Huskers in last year’s National Semi-Final match in Omaha, Nebraska. That match was a classic: largest crowd in NCAA Women’s Volleyball history, the only two sets Penn State lost all season. A natural, plus it would have been fair: Penn State has played Nebraska 12 times in Lincoln (plus last year’s “neutral” match in Omaha). Nebraska has played Penn State in University Park dozens of times once. For some reason, Nebraska chose not to come.
It must be particularly galling to Rose to be criticized for participating in Saint Louis University’s Active Ankle Challenge in St. Louis, MO (against #17 St. Louis, Miami (OH), and Alabama) and at the Duke Invitational (versus Loyola, Md., College of Charleston, and ACC pre-season favorite Duke). Penn State had long-standing commitments to these events in return for visits to Penn State in recent seasons. The Durham trip has the added benefit that it is Megan Hodge’s hometown and close to Raleigh, Katie Kabbes’ hometown.
We wish Stanford, Texas, Nebraska, Florida, Washington, etc., etc., etc. all had visited Univerity Park in 2009. With the Nebraska joining the Big10, at least Nebraska will in the future.