I have discovered lately that Dave Shondell's twitter is probably the most up-to-date source for Purdue Volleyball news, and once again, Coach delivers great news. On August 24th, Purdue will start the season against the Northern Iowa Panthers. Don't be fooled with the fact that UNI is a mid-major team, as they have been consistently in the NCAA Tournament in recent years, made it to the second round last year before losing to Florida and finished #18 in the nation (Purdue finished #10). On top of this, UNI has only lost 2 Seniors from last season's squad, so unless they goof like Michigan last year, they will be a preseason favorite to make at least a Sweet 16 run in the NCAA Tournament this coming season and will most likely be ranked in the Top 15 along with Purdue.

I am excited about this match up for the opening home tournament (which still should be the Mortar Board Premier, which means you'll get to see BoilerPaulie and I rock our Mortar Board awesomeness), as Purdue hasn't had much success with scheduling top non-conference teams lately. I'll do a full preview this summer on the volleyball team. Until then, keep practicing those serves.