Aug. 23, 2005
The official website of Notre Dame athletics, und.com, will feature live internet audio broadcasts of every home match – as well as at least one road contest – for the Irish women’s volleyball team in 2005. Stephen Hinkel and Chris Masters, both former volleyball SIDs and veterans of announcing Notre Dame volleyball – though never before together – will have the call, beginning with this Saturday’s season-opening contest against rival Michigan at 7 p.m. (EST/CDT) in the Joyce Center.
A total of 15 Irish regular-season matches – all 14 home contests involving Notre Dame as well as the Sept. 27 match at Loyola Chicago – will have live audio on und.com. There is also the possibility of some NCAA tournament action on und.com, as has been the case in each of the last three seasons. Among the highlights of the audio schedule are three matches against teams ranked among the top 15 in the AVCA preseason national poll (Sept. 3 vs. #11 Texas, Oct. 29 vs. #14 Louisville, Nov. 26 vs. #9 Tennessee), as well as two others against squads that topped the Irish in 2004 (Saturday vs. Michigan, Oct. 5 vs. Valparaiso). See below for the full schedule of 2005 regular-season broadcasts.
The live audio broadcasts are available to subscribers of the newly-renamed CSTV All-Access (formerly College Sports Pass) and are accessed via the “Listen” link appearing on the und.com volleyball schedule page and on the schedule portion (right side) of the site’s frontpage. Subscriptions are $6.95 per month, though listeners signing up before Sept. 3 will receive an introductory discount, getting their first month for just $4.95 as part of a preseason offer. Details are available on und.com under “Audio/Video” or by clicking on the “CSTV All-Access” button on the site’s front page. Subscribers gain access to all Notre Dame live audio broadcasts (for football, basketball, hockey, baseball, softball, volleyball, and soccer), as well as other audio and video features, like football press conferences, coaches shows for various sports, and an ever-expanding selection of extras. Among the benefits is the ability to listen to all past broadcasts on und.com, which are archived on the site, at your convenience. Additionally, CSTV All-Access subscribers have access to all audio and video features provided by every other College Sports Online school, an impressive group of nearly 200 colleges and universities. For a full list, see http://www.collegesports.com/online/partners/collegesports-partners.html.
Hinkel, the box office manager for the South Bend Silver Hawks minor-league baseball team, is back as one of the voices of the Irish for the third consecutive season, after working with Dr. Lorne Oke over the past two campaigns. He was the Radford University women’s volleyball sports information director from 1999-2001 as an undergraduate and then filled the same post at Liberty University in ’02. Hinkel, who also played on club volleyball teams during his college days, is very active as a participant in the South Bend Parks and Recreation fall and winter volleyball leagues.
Masters, an assistant sports information director at Notre Dame, will return to the microphone for the first time since working with Oke during the 2002 volleyball season (though he has done internet audio of Irish softball for und.com in the interim). Prior to coming to Notre Dame, he was the women’s volleyball SID at Western Kentucky University from 1998-2000. Masters also was a radio color analyst for away Lady Hilltoppers women’s basketball games during the 2000-01 season. Additionally, he assisted the volleyball SID at Kansas State during the 1996 and ’97 seasons while pursuing a master’s degree in mass communications. He is currently the media contact for Irish women’s basketball, men’s golf, and men’s and women’s cross country and track and field.
Women’s volleyball will be one of eight Notre Dame sports tentatively scheduled to have live audio of all home contests available via und.com in 2005-06, joining football, men’s and women’s basketball, men’s ice hockey, baseball, and men’s and women’s soccer. Notre Dame’s official athletics website began featuring live internet audio of volleyball in 2002 and the offerings have expanded since then.
2005 und.com LIVE INTERNET AUDIO SCHEDULEDay, Date, Opponent, Time Saturday, Aug. 27, Michigan, 7 p.m. EST/CDTSaturday, Sept. 3, #11 Texas, 5 p.m. EST/CDTSunday, Sept. 4, Arizona State, 2 p.m. EST/CDTSunday, Sept. 25, Seton Hall, 1 p.m. EST/CDTTuesday, Sept. 27, at Loyola Chicago, 7 p.m. CDTWednesday, Oct. 5, Valparaiso, 7 p.m. EST/CDTFriday, Oct. 21, South Florida, 4 p.m. EST/CDTSunday, Oct. 23, Georgetown, 2 p.m. EST/CDTSaturday, Oct. 29, #14 Louisville, 2 p.m. EST/CDTSunday, Oct. 30, Cincinnati, 2 p.m. ESTSaturday, Nov. 12, Villanova, 10 a.m. ESTSunday, Nov. 13, Rutgers, 2 p.m. ESTFriday, Nov. 25, Rice, 7 p.m. ESTSaturday, Nov. 26, #9 Tennessee, 7 p.m. EST