Dayton Flyers

Sept. 10, 2010

Box Score | Replay Live Blog

LINCOLN, Neb. – After an impressive comeback to win the first set, No. 20 Dayton fell to seventh-ranked Nebraska in four sets to open the 2010 Ameritas Players Challenge in front of a sold-out crowd at the Nebraska Coliseum on Thursday night (26-24, 20-25, 16-25, 17-25).

Sophomore outside hitter Rachel Krabacher finished the night with her third double-double in four matches with 12 kills and 15 digs. Senior setter Jessica Yanz also finished with a double-double, notching 35 assists and 17 digs in facing her former Nebraska teammates of the last two seasons. Senior Amanda Cowdrey tied a season-high of 13 kills.

The Huskers used the momentum of its first home crowd of the season to start with a 20-12 lead in the first set.  The eight-point advantage didn’t last long before the Flyers strung together a 10-2 run which tied the opening set at 22. Krabacher’s four kills, eight digs and one service ace down the stretch helped lead UD to a 26-24 extra-point win.

In the next three sets, the Huskers held Dayton to a combined .105 hitting percentage, led by libero Kayla Banwarth’s match-high 24 digs and Jordan Wilberger’s seven blocks

“Defensively, Nebraska is just really, really elite – they were making some great plays,” Head Coach Kelly Sheffield said. “When you are taking a lot of swings out of system against an elite defensive team you are going to have some problems.”

It was the second time the Flyers and Huskers have met on the court with Nebraska leading 2-0. Dayton was eliminated by Nebraska from the second round of the 2003 NCAA Tournament in Lansing, Mich.

Dayton (5-2) will face its third straight top-10 opponent tomorrow in the Ameritas Players Challenge against No. 3 Illinois, beginning at 5:30 p.m. ET.