Carrollton, GA - West Georgia head coach Gary Lee has released his 2010 schedule, and his team is going to hit the ground running this year, as the upcoming schedule could be one of the toughest in recent memory.
"We are going to have to be very prepared early in the year," said Lee. "This year's schedule is very difficult, but we are ready to take on a schedule like this."
The Wolves, coming off of a 10-20 season in 2009, will begin the 2010 season at the Saint Leo tournament in St. Leo, FL. The gauntlet begins there, as the Wolves will open with Dominican and Upper Iowa on September 3, followed by a pair of NCAA tournament qualifiers on the second day.
First up will be Saginaw Valley, which was a No. 3 seed in the NCAA tournament last year, beating Grand Valley State before falling to Lewis in the second round. The final opponent of the first weekend will be Pittsburg State, a fifth seed in the NCAA tournament that beat Emporia State in the opening round, but lost to Central Missouri in round two.
The first home date of the season is set for September 7, as the Wolves will play host to NCAA Division III power Emory at 7 p.m. The Eagles received a bye into the second round of last year's tournament, but fell to Trinity (TX).
The toughest set of games may be at th Armstrong Atlantic tournament on September 10-11 in Savannah, as the Wolves will face-off with host AASU, which reached the second round of the NCAA tournament last season, followed by a second-day battle with Flagler, a team that reached the Final Four last year before falling to national runner-up West Texas A&M.
Following a trip to the Alabama-Huntsville tournament, the Wolves hit Gulf South Conference play on September 21 at home against traditional GSC power North Alabama.
Lee has 10 games set for the 2010 home schedule, adding Valdosta State (10/1), Armstrong Atlantic (10/5), Alabama-Huntsville (10/12), Fort Valley State (10/19), West Alabama (10/22), West Florida (10/23), Clark Atlanta (10/26) and Montevallo (11/2) to the mix of UNA and Emory.
For the past two years, UWG home games during the month of October have been a part of the Think Pink campaign, as the Wolves raised money for the Komen for the Cure, an organization dedicated to raising money for breast cancer research. That tradition will continue in the coming season, with more details about the events to be released in early September.