The Hens are coming off an outstanding season in which they went 21-9 overall and advanced to the Colonial Athletic Association championship tournament semifinals before falling to eventual champion Hofstra University in five games. UD won its first 12 games of the season to set a school record and claimed tournament titles at home and at the University of Wisconsin Green Bay.
The Hens will return seven regulars, led by first team All-CAA hitter Kelly Gibson, second team All-CAA and Academic All-America candidate Colleen Walsh, CAA All-Rookie selections Kelly Matthias and Michelle Lalonde, and CAA assist leader Megan Welch.
The schedule will include four tournament appearances, starting with UD's own Blue Hen/Asics Invitational Aug. 24-25 at Barbara Viera Court at the Carpenter Sports Building. The Hens will open the season against Boston College at 7 p.m., Aug. 24, and also will face Binghamton University and the University of South Carolina on Aug. 25.
Other tournaments will see the Hens travel to the University of New Orleans Tournament Aug. 31-Sept. 1, to the University of Miami
Tournament in Florida Sept. 7-8, and to the Coastal Carolina Tournament in Conway, S.C., Sept. 14-15. The New Orleans tournament will include the host Privateers, Alcorn State University and Nicholls State University. The Miami tournament will include the host Hurricanes, Brown University and Loyola University Chicago, and the Coastal Carolina tournament will include the host Chanticleers, Gardner-Webb University and the University at Buffalo.
The Hens will open CAA action Sept. 19 at home against Towson University, and will also play home matches against Fairleigh Dickinson University (Sept. 21), the University of Maryland Baltimore County (Sept. 25), Virginia Commonwealth University (Oct. 5), the College of William and Mary (Oct. 6), Georgia State University (Oct. 19), the University of North Carolina Wilmington (Oct. 20), Lehigh University (Oct. 30), James Madison University (Nov. 2), and George Mason University (Nov. 3).
The schedule also includes non-conference road matches at Temple University (Aug. 28), Delaware State University (Sept. 4) and Villanova University (Sept. 11).
