April 2, 2008

EASTON, Pa. - The Lafayette women's volleyball team and head coach Terri Dadio Campbell have released the 2008 schedule. The Leopards will host two tournaments this year, including a cross-town tournament with Lehigh, and are scheduled to hold the first-ever Alumni Game.

The team opens the season on Aug. 29 at the La Salle Tournament with matches against La Salle, Northern Colorado, Rider and Villanova. The Leopards then return home to host two-straight tournaments, beginning with the annual Lafayette College Tournament on Sept. 5-6. Fairleigh Dickinson, Delaware State and St. Peter's will all make the trip to Easton for the two day tournament.

The following weekend brings Columbia, Coppin State, Marist and Quinnipiac to the Lehigh Valley for the Cross-town Tournament on Sept 12-13. All visiting teams will compete at both the Lafayette and Lehigh campuses although the two archrivals will not play each other until Patriot League play begins.

Two road games follow against Manhattan on Sept. 17 and Seton Hall on Sept. 19. On Sept. 20, Lafayette will host its inaugural Alumni Game before traveling to Rider for a midweek match on Sept. 23.

"The Alumni Game is an exciting addition to our schedule," Campbell said. "Beginning our season with three consecutive weekend tournaments, I thought taking a Saturday to welcome our former players back to campus to reunite both on and off the court would be fun."

Lafayette opens Patriot League play at home with matches against Army on Sept. 26 and Holy Cross on Sep. 27. Three straight road games follow, all against league opponents. The Leopards compete at American on Oct. 3 and Navy on Oct. 4 before facing archrival Lehigh on Oct. 10.

A midweek, non-league home match against NJIT is scheduled for Oct. 14 before Lafayette hits the road for two more conference games against Holy Cross and Army on Oct. 17-18, respectively.

The Leopards host Bucknell and Colgate in weekend league matches on Oct. 24-25 before taking a break from conference play to travel to Wagner on Oct. 29.

Lafayette then returns home for four consecutive matches, in its longest homestand of the fall. Lehigh makes the short trip to Kirby Sports Center on Oct. 31, and on Nov. 5 the Leopards host St. Francis (N.Y.). Lafayette will play its final regular-season home matches on Nov. 7-8 against Navy and American.

The regular season concludes with road games at Colgate and Bucknell on Nov. 14-15. The Patriot League Tournament is scheduled for Nov. 21-22 at the highest seed.

Kathleen Kretzmer, who will also serve as a captain of the 2008 squad.

The 2008 Leopards return ten players, including senior co-captains Megan Carter and Kathleen Kretzmer. Carter led the team in assists with 976 (9.30 apg) and appeared in 105 games during her junior campaign. Kretzmer, who played in 78 games last season, averaged 1.60 digs per game. The 2007 squad finished with a 14-18 overall record, marking the fourth-straight year of double-digit wins for the program.

"As we prepare for the fall, I am excited to announce Megan and Kat as our captains and I am confident that they will lead our team in a positive direction," Campbell said. "They both display the daily commitment and work ethic that I expect from my players and have come to understand what it takes to be a member of the Lafayette volleyball program."