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A former IPFW assistant coach will go up against his Hall of Fame mentor in non-conference play this upcoming season.
Lees-McRae with its new head coach Dave Schmidlin have agreed to play a road non-conference match against IPFW during the 2014 season.
Schmidlin spent 10 seasons as an assistant under AVCA Hall of Fame coach Arnie Ball and helped guide the Mastodons to two NCAA Tournament appearances in the 1990s. In addition, Schmidlin spent time as a head coach at Cardinal Stritch before being hired as Lees-McRae new head coach in April.
IPFW and Lees-McRae, which both recently released their 2014 regular season schedules, have a majority of starters returning for the upcoming season.
IPFW last season upset several nationally ranked teams and advanced to the MIVA Tournament quarterfinals, while Lees-McRae reached the Conference Carolinas Tournament semifinals for the second consecutive year.
The IPFW-Lees McRae non-conference match on March 14 will be part of a two-match Midwest road trip for the Bobcats. Lees-McRae the following night will also play a non-conference match against Ball State.
Along with playing Lees-McRae, IPFW scheduled a team-record five non-conference against the Conference Carolinas for the 2014 season — including matches against Mount Olive and Belmont Abbey.
The Mastodons last season went 2-0 versus the Conference Carolinas and have never lost to a Conference Carolinas team in their program history. This will also be the first meeting between IPFW and Lees-McRae in their schools’ histories.
Lees-McRae, though, has several victories against the MIVA in recent years, including upsetting Ball State in a non-conference match during the 2011 season.