Air Force Academy

USAF ACADEMY, Colo. -- Air Force volleyball head coach Penny Lucas-White announced an impressive 2005 schedule that features four tournaments and 18 home matches. The Falcons will host two of the tournaments, including the annual All-Armed Forces Tournament.

The Falcons open the season on the road, competing in the Battle of the Beach Tournament in Wilmington, N.C., (Aug. 26-27) against a trio of first-time opponents in Xavier, UNC-Wilmington and South Carolina State.

Air Force then returns to the Academy to host the Falcon Invitational on Sept. 2-3. Three schools -- San Jose State, Weber State and Wisconsin -- will compete at Clune Arena, while Air Force will take on Southeast Missouri State and Butler at the Cadet East Gym during Friday's action. Saturday will see all six teams converge on Clune Arena for the championship round, as the first-, second- and third-ranked teams from each section battle it out for the title.

The Falcons head out on the road for the Weber State Tournament in Ogden, Utah on Sept. 9-10. There, Air Force will compete against host Weber State, Utah Valley State and Northwestern State.

Following a Sept. 13 trip to Greeley, Colo., for the first of two meetings with Northern Colorado, Air Force returns home to host the second-annual All-Armed Forces Tournament at Clune Arena. The Falcons will look to defend their title against teams from Army, Navy and The Citadel.

Six consecutive home matches await the Falcons following the All-Armed Forces Tournament, including the Mountain West Conference opener with defending league co-champion Utah. Air Force will host a Sept. 22 non-conference meeting with South Dakota State, before hosting Utah and BYU on Sept. 23-24. The Falcons will then welcome San Diego State and UNLV to the Academy on Sept. 30-Oct. 1.

Air Force will play its first road contest in nearly a month when it travels to Albuquerque, N.M., to compete against New Mexico on Oct. 5, before heading to Fort Worth, Texas, to face MWC-newcomer TCU on Oct. 7.

The Falcons return to the Academy on Oct. 11 for its second meeting of the season with Northern Colorado, before hitting the road once more for weekend (Oct. 14-15) series at BYU and Utah.

Following a home contest with local rival Denver on Oct. 19, the Falcons wrap up the first run-through of conference foes hosting Colorado State and Wyoming on Oct. 21-22.

Following a road trip to UNLV (Oct. 27) and San Diego State (Oct. 29), Air Force wraps up the home slate with a trio of matches. The Falcons will host North Dakota State (Nov. 4) for the first time in over a decade, before closing out the Cadet East Gym with TCU (Nov. 6) and New Mexico (Nov. 11).

Air Force concludes the regular season at Wyoming and Colorado State on Nov. 18-19, before returning to Las Vegas, Nev., for the 2005 Mountain West Conference Championships, which will be held Nov. 22-26 on the campus of UNLV.

For the latest times and results for the upcoming 2005 Air Force volleyball season, please check out the 'Schedule & Results' section of the volleyball home page.