Anne Kordes

[sonsforever2008]

Stanford, Penn State Highlight 2008 Volleyball Slate

Kordes puts together loaded non-conference schedule

Hot off the wire:

June 4, 2008

ST. LOUIS - Saint Louis head volleyball coach Anne Kordes took the old saying, "To be the best, you have to compete against the best," to heart when she put together the 2008 slate. This season, the Billikens will play some of the top volleyball programs in the country, including 2007 NCAA Tournament title-match participants Penn State and Stanford. SLU's 2008 schedule features nine conference champions, nine NCAA Tournament participants and 10 teams with at least 20 victories last season.

"We've been able to put together one of the toughest non-conference schedules in the country this season," Kordes said. "I'm excited about it, and our players are fired up for the challenge. Our goal is to put this program in a position to be nationally ranked, and to do that we have to play a tough non-conference schedule. Season after season, we have to compete against teams that get into the NCAA Tournament and that are nationally ranked in order to get our program to that point. We also want to be among the best teams in our conference, and to reach that goal we must challenge ourselves before the conference slate begins."

The Bills open the season at the Miami Best Western/Sycamore Inn Classic in Oxford, Ohio, on Friday, Aug. 29. SLU faces the host Redhawks twice before taking on Stephen F. Austin in the tournament finale. In 2007, MU earned an NCAA Tournament bid after capturing the Mid-American Conference Tournament title, while Stephen F. Austin finished first in the West division of the Southland Conference regular-season race.

Saint Louis welcomes Illinois, William & Mary and Stanford, the nation's winningest volleyball program, to the Chaifetz Arena Pavilion on Sept. 5-6 for the annual Billiken Invitational, the first SLU athletic event in the University's new facility. The Cardinal finished with the nation's top RPI en route to a runner-up finish at the 2007 NCAA Tournament.

SLU will travel to Salt Lake City, Utah, to compete in the Utah Classic beginning Friday, Sept. 12. The Billikens will face the host Utes, Utah State and 2007 NCAA Tournament participant Purdue before heading across the country for the Penn State Classic in State College, Pa. Saint Louis takes on New Hampshire and Yale prior to facing the reigning national champion Nittany Lions in the tournament finale.

[TheA_Bomb]

That is an impressive schedule. She has been very successful in her time here and it should only get better from here out with the new arena. I'm a big Kordes fan. I like the Rick Flair impression, "To be the Man you gotta' beat the Man, whooo."