June 21, 2007

VILLANOVA, Pa. - First year head coach Josh Steinbach today announced the schedule for the upcoming 2007 season, highlighted by a home tournament for the fourth consecutive season and early trips to tournaments hosted by Texas Tech and North Carolina. Villanova opens the season with a road match against George Mason on August 29 and will play its home opener against Delaware on September 11.

Of the 28 regular season matches on the slate, the Wildcats will play 12 matches at home and 16 on the road. The road matches include four neutral-site contests in the early-season tournaments. Villanova opens BIG EAST Conference play at home against Connecticut and St. John's the weekend of September 22-23 and will play 14 league matches.

At its home tournament on September 14-15, Villanova will host Binghamton, Liberty, Princeton and William & Mary. Combined, these four teams produced a .514 winning percentage, while each squad won at least 10 matches during the season.

The Wildcats will face tough non-conference opponents at Texas Tech and North Carolina. In addition to the host Red Raiders, Villanova will take on Southern Methodist and Lamar in its trip to Lubbock on August 31 and September 1. One week later, the team will face Western Kentucky and American in addition to the host Tar Heels in Chapel Hill.

"Our preseason schedule that will help prepare us for the rigors of the BIG EAST season," Steinbach said. "The trip to Texas Tech is a challenging travel weekend and in the tournament at North Carolina we will face perennial conference powers in the Tar Heels, Western Kentucky and American."

The home opponents for the Wildcats in BIG EAST play include Connecticut, St. John's, Cincinnati, Louisville, Seton Hall, University of South Florida and Georgetown. On the road, Villanova plays DePaul, Notre Dame, West Virginia, Pittsburgh, Rutgers, Syracuse and Marquette.

"We have a great home tournament on the schedule and we are excited about that," Steinbach said. "Overall there is excellent competition on our home schedule, including a weekend with top BIG EAST opponents Cincinnati and Louisville coming in on back-to-back days. I am looking forward to the fan support we will generate at home matches this year."

Nine letterwinners, including four starters, return this season to the Wildcats from a team that went 16-15 a year ago and finished with a 7-7 conference record. The 2006 campaign marked the second straight year with a winning record for the program. Villanova tied for eighth place in the league standings during the regular season but a tiebreaker kept the squad from qualifying for the BIG EAST Championship for the second straight year.

NOTES: The overall winning percentage in 2006 of the 28 regular season opponents on the 2007 schedule was .510 (429-413) ... Fourteen opponents had a winning record and eight won at least 20 matches.