Nov. 15, 2008

Final Stats |  Photo Gallery 

DAYTON, Ohio - The University of Dayton Flyers fell 3-1 (25-19, 28-30, 21-25, 18-25) to No. 20 Saint Louis to finish their conference slate at 11-2 on Saturday. With the loss Dayton is now 20-10 overall this season.

"I thought that both teams played great defense tonight," said head coach Kelly Sheffield. "With the defense and the rallies on both sides of the ball, it was a fun match to be a part of."

The Flyers were paced by senior Nicole Bateman who racked up a team-high 16 kills. Bateman also added 16 digs defensively for her 14th double-double of the season. In addition, Bateman added one block assist for the Flyers.

"I think that both teams played extremely hard and at a high level," said Sheffield. "Saint Louis won't give you much. They put a lot of pressure on you to play at a very high level. They are a very good team and they played at high level."

Tiffany Gaerke and Bethany Akerhielm both chimed in on offense. Gaerke picked up 13 kills and added 12 more digs for UD. Akerhielm pieced together 12 kills, eight digs and four block assists on the night.

As a team, the Flyers dug the ball extremely well. The Flyers outpaced SLU 85-76 in the digs department with senior Mandy Robbe notching a team-high 20 digs. Chelsy Christoff's work from the back row also netted her 14 digs and one assist.

Setter Kacie Hausfeld placed high percentage balls for the Flyers adding 45 assists on the night, despite Saint Louis' 76 total digs.

The Flyers will travel to St. Louis, Mo. for the Atlantic 10 Conference Championships as the second seed in the tournament. With UD's second seed, they earn an automatic berth into the second round of the tournament which will be held on Saturday at 6:30 p.m. ET.

Notes: Bethany Akerhielm, Nicole Bateman, Kortney Norris, Mandy Robbe and Erin Schroeder participated in their final regular season match at the Frericks Center. Each senior was honored during a pre-match celebration of their careers at the University of Dayton.