The Dayton Flyer Classic will kick off this weekend in Frericks Center and will feature some of the premier teams in the nation.

"This will be one of the great tournaments in the country this year," head coach Kelly Sheffield said. "Every one of the teams can go 0-3 or 3-0. This will be a tournament where all four teams should be in the NCAA Tournament this year."

Miami University, Louisville and Purdue will join the Flyers in the field for what promises to be a weekend full of competitive matches.

"We're going to have to play great volleyball to win any one of those matches," Sheffield said. "That's what is very fun about this tournament, there's not a game where you can sit back and relax. There's no break this weekend."

The players know that this tournament will be challenging, but are excited for the weekend.

"This is probably the hardest tournament I've been in since I've been here," senior setter Erin Schroeder said.

Friday afternoon, Miami and Louisville kick off the tournament with a 4:30 p.m. match, while the Flyers will take to the court at 7 p.m. against Purdue.

Saturday will feature the final four games of the tournament. At 11 a.m., Louisville and Purdue will square off. Next, the Flyers will host their second match at 1 p.m. against regional rival Miami, and after a short break, the RedHawks will get back on the court at 5 p.m. for a game against Purdue. Finally, the Flyers will close out the tournament at 7 p.m. as they host Louisville.

"Each of the three teams we play are teams we've played in the past," Schroeder said. "Purdue is a big game for us Friday. We beat them at their place last year, they beat us here the year before that, so it will be a really good game."

The other opponents aren't too shabby either.

For the Flyers to make the NCAA Tournament, they'll have to use the experience they gain from the upcoming weekend in order to make sure they're ready for Atlantic 10 Conference play.

The team is also trying to build on their success from their trip to Knoxville, Tenn. last weekend, in which the team won the Lady Vol Classic.

"Playing those kinds of teams gets us ready for this weekend and down the road," Schroeder said. "Winning was a bonus, we worked really hard and faced really good competition and that will help us down the road."

Although last year's team had a better record at this point in the season, both Schroeder and Sheffield agree that record doesn't necessarily tell the whole story.

"This schedule was set up this year to challenge us," Sheffield said. "At the end of the year, there will be a lot of teams that will be in the NCAA Tournament. We wanted to put ourselves in the position where we have a lot of big matches under our belt. We want to be used to a lot of different styles of play, and this can't do anything but help us in the conference."

Schroeder agreed.

"Compared to last season, just because we had a better record doesn't mean we had a better team," Schroeder said. "No matter what your record is, you have to keep on improving throughout the season. I think our level of play is the same as last year. The success of the last two weekends shows we are getting rewarded for our hard work."

The motivation from winning that tournament is becoming energy that they will feed off of in order to prepare for the upcoming weekend. The Flyers know there are still areas that they need to work on, and the team will continue to work on these areas each day in practice.

"This is a very hard-working team, Sheffield said. "There's a lot of teams that work hard but don't get anywhere. This team takes information and works on it. They're tough. I expect this team to improve every week, and we've done it. We're not where we need to be, but we're headed in the right direction."

The Flyers hope that they will stay focused and move in the right direction, especially with three NCAA Tournament-caliber teams visiting Frericks Center this weekend.