ERIE, Pa. --  Mercyhurst College head volleyball coach Ryan Patton has announced the Lakers' 2010 schedule.  Celebrating its 40th season of varsity competition, Mercyhurst aims for its third-straight appearance in the NCAA Tournament under Patton.

In 2010, Mercyhurst will face nine teams that competed in the postseason.

The Lakers will open the season at the Ferris State Invitational, where the team will square off with three old rivals from the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference. After opening the 2010 campaign against Hillsdale, the Lakers face Michigan Tech and close the weekend with a match against host Ferris State. All three of their GLIAC foes were 2009 NCAA Tournament participants. While in Big Rapids, Mercyhurst will also face Glenville State.

“We had a good offseason and are adding a good group of new players to our roster," says Patton.  "I think we'll start the 2010 season ahead of where we were at the same time last year. The weekend in Michigan will give us a chance to play national-level teams right away and is a great, great opportunity for us.”

Four more West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference opponents are next on the docket as the Lakers will travel to Indiana, PA to play against West Virginia State, Davis & Elkins, Alderson-Broaddus, and Shepherd. Along with a November 2 match against Wheeling Jesuit in Erie, the Lakers will compete against six of last year's top eight teams in the WVIAC.

“I'm very happy with the teams we are getting to play from the WVIAC. These regional matches are very important for selection and seeding in the NCAA Tournament, so it's a good thing for us that we are getting to play the best teams that they have to offer.”

The home-opener for the Lakers, and the first of nine home matches, comes on September 14 with a match against Notre Dame (Ohio). Three days later, the Lakers hit the road for a third consecutive weekend as they open the conference schedule with matches against Cheyney, Kutztown, and West Chester in southeast Pennsylvania.

The Lakers open the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference West schedule with matches against Erie County rivals Edinboro (at Edinboro) on September 24 and Gannon (at home) on September 25.  A trip to Lake Erie College on September 28 and one to Houghton on October 5 are the only times that the Lakers have to leave city limits until the end of October. Mercyhurst has home matches against Slippery Rock (10/1), Clarion (10/2), Cal (10/15), IUP (10/16), Daemen (10/22) and Edinboro (10/23) which are interrupted only by matches at Gannon's Hammermill Center against the Golden Knights on October 19 and for four neutral-site matches against PSAC East teams on October 8 and 9. 

The Lakers had an impressive 15-5 record in the friendly confines of the Mercyhurst Athletic Center in 2009, and are 23-7 at home over the past two seasons.

Road weekends against Clarion and Slippery Rock (10/29 & 10/30) and IUP and Cal (11/5 & 11/6) close out the regular season and will set the Lakers up for a postseason run.

“I'm very excited to be playing in the PSAC West this season. The top five teams, especially, were very closely matched last year and the sixth team was not far behind. Most of these teams – including ours – have most of their key players returning this season so we will have important match after important match really for the whole year. It should be a great year.” 

To view the complete schedule, please click here.