2011 Spring Schedule Opens Up This Weekend with Men's Volleyball; Falcons to Host 81 Home Games in 73 Days

January 19, 2011

MISENHEIMER, N.C. – The 2011 spring sports schedule for Pfeiffer University officially begins this Friday and Saturday as men’s volleyball opens up NCAA play with four games at the Hampton Inn & Sleep Inn EMU DII/DIII Classic. All tidbits on Pfeiffer’s spring teams are listed below. Starting February 1st, Pfeiffer will host a total of 81 contests on the Misenheimer campus while hosting a pair of golf tournaments at Old North State (men) and at the Ballantyne Resort in Charlotte (women).

Men’s volleyball will take on CCNY, Medaille, Lancaster Bible and host Eastern Mennonite Friday and Saturday to kick-off their 25-game schedule. In their inaugural campaign a year ago, the Falcons and libero Mark Hess led the nation in digs per game becoming the NCAA’s statistical champion. Men’s volleyball officially competes at the division one level with teams such as Penn State, Stanford and Southern California.

Pfeiffer will host seven matches in 2011, four inside Conference Carolinas play. The rest of the schedule features a division one trip to Muncie, Indiana as the Falcons take on their first D1 opponent in Ball State. Starting in 2012, men’s volleyball will be an official Conference Carolinas sport enabling the league to register for an automatic qualifier into the NCAA tournament. The current tournament is a four-team, single elimination event. With the addition of Conference Carolinas, changes will eventually be made to include more teams in the postseason festivities.

All of the spring teams have schedule highlights listed below. The official preseason polls will be released in the next 7-10 days. Click on the sport below to be directed onto their athletic homepage. To visit men’s volleyball, click HERE.

BASEBALL
Season Opener - Tuesday, February 1st at Lenoir-Rhyne (3pm)
Home Opener - Tuesday, February 8th vs. Catawba (2pm)
Conference Opener – Feb. 26-27 at Barton
Conference Home Opener – Mar. 4-5 vs. Erskine
Conference Tournament – Apr. 14-17 hosted by Barton (Wilson, NC)

Schedule highlights include a weekend tournament at Fieldcrest Cannon Stadium in Kannapolis against Catawba, Tusculum and Brevard (Feb. 4-6) … weekend three-game series at Georgia College and State (Feb. 18-20) … 15 games against the South Atlantic Conference … seven games against the Peach Belt Conference … 21 conference games (12 away, 9 home) total … three-game home series against Erskine, Belmont Abbey and St. Andrews … 48 games overall in a 71-day span.

SOFTBALL
Season Opener – Saturday, February 12th at Carson-Newman (1pm)
Home Opener – Wednesday, February 16th vs. Catawba (1:30pm)
Conference Opener – Sunday, February 20th at Barton (2pm)
Conference Home Opener – Saturday, February 26th vs. St. Andrews (1pm)
Conference Tournament – Apr. 15-17 hosted by Coker (Hartsville, SC)

Schedule highlights include a one-day appearance at the Mid-South Classic on March 6th hosted by Newberry in Spartanburg, SC … 12 games against the SAC … eight games against the PBC … 18 conference games (10 away, 8 home) total … home league doubleheaders against St. Andrews, Coker, Belmont Abbey and Mount Olive … 48 games overall in 57-day span.

MEN’S LACROSSE
Season Opener – Saturday, February 19th at Lenoir-Rhyne (2pm)
Home Opener – Sunday, February 27th vs. St. Leo (12pm)
Conference/Home Opener – Saturday, March 12th vs. St. Andrews (2pm)
Conference Tournament – April 15, 17 hosted by Queens (Charlotte, NC)

Schedule highlights include a pair of games in Florida at Florida Southern and against Notre Dame de Namur … seven games against the Deep South Conference … five Conference Carolinas games (2 away, 3 home) … non-conference home contests against Lake Erie, Merrimack and Rollins … league home games against St. Andrews, Lees-McRae and Limestone … 15 games overall (plus tournament games) in 64-day span. 

WOMEN’S LACROSSE
Season Opener – Saturday, February 19th at Lenoir-Rhyne (11am)
Home Opener – Tuesday, March 1st vs. Gannon (3pm)
Conference/Home Opener – Thursday, March 17th vs. Belmont Abbey (4pm)
Conference Tournament – April 16-17 hosted by Queens (Charlotte, NC)

Schedule highlights include three-straight on the road to open up the season … non-conference games after match at L-R with Belmont Abbey and Queens … non-conference home contests against Gannon, Rollins, East Stroudsburg and Lemoyne … seven conference games (3 away, 4 home) … league home tilts against Belmont Abbey, Converse, St. Andrews and Queens … 16 games overall in 50-day span.

MEN’S TENNIS
Season/Home Opener – Tuesday, February 15th vs. Johnson C. Smith (TBA)
Conference Opener – Tuesday, February 22nd at Belmont Abbey (2pm)
Conference Home Opener – Tuesday, March 22nd vs. Limestone (2:30pm)
Conference Tournament – April 15-17 hosted by Erskine (Palmetto Tennis Complex/Sumter, SC)

Schedule highlights include six-straight road contests after season opener vs. Johnson C. Smith … four matches against the SAC … one match against a division one opponent (at Gardner-Webb) … eight of the nine final regular season matches at home including six-straight to end the year … eight conference matches (4 away, 4 home) … home matches in conference against Limestone, Queens, Coker, Lees-McRae … 16 matches overall in 53-day span.

WOMEN’S TENNIS
Season Opener – Sunday, February 13th at UNC-Charlotte (3pm)
Home & Conference Opener – Tuesday, March 1st vs. Converse (3pm)
Conference Tournament – April 15-17 hosted by Erskine (Palmetto Tennis Complex/Sumter, SC)

Schedule highlights include six-straight road matches to open the season beginning at division one UNC-Charlotte … nine of first 10 matches in 2011 away from the Johnson Tennis Center … six of final seven matches at home … five matches against the SAC … eight conference matches (4 away, 4 home) … home league matches against Converse, Queens, Coker and Lees-McRae … 18 matches overall in 55-day span.

MEN’S GOLF
Spring Season Opener – February 21-22 hosting Falcon Invitational (Old North State)
Conference Tournament – April 17-19 hosted by Belmont Abbey (Tanglewood Country Club/Clemmons, NC)

Schedule highlights include opening up five-tournament schedule at Old North State … other tournaments include trips to Salisbury, Wilson and Charlotte before heading to Clemmons.

WOMEN’S GOLF
Spring Season Opener – March 7-8 hosting Dana Rader Intercollegiate (Ballantyne Resort/Charlotte, NC)
Conference Tournament – April 17-19 hosted by Belmont Abbey (Tanglewood Country Club/Clemmons, NC)

Schedule highlights include four overall tournaments starting with the Dana Rader Intercollegiate in Charlotte … a trip to the Pinehurst Challenge awaits in late March … conference tournament tune-up trip to Tennessee in early April before three-round league battle April 17-19.