April 12, 2008

DAYTON, Ohio - The University of Dayton volleyball team split both of its matches at its own 2008 Dayton Spring Classic on Saturday at Frericks Center.

Playing in its second competition of the Spring season, UD beat 2008 NCAA Tournament participant Ohio 2-1 (25-9, 24-26, 15-7) before falling to another postseason participant in Louisville 0-2 (19-25, 17-25).

"We improved upon everything that we worked on this week in practice and that was great to see," UD Head Coach Kelly Sheffield said. "Our serving and passing was much better today especially at the start."

Mandy Robbe led all players with nine kills in the opener against the Bobcats. She was followed by Nicole Bateman and Bethany Akerhielm with six kills each and Becky Novacek with five kills.

Erin Schroeder added two of Dayton's five service aces in the match against Ohio.

Tiffany Gaerke tallied eight kills to pace the Flyer attack in the final match of the day, but it was not enough to prevent the sweep at the hands of the Cardinals.

Mandy Robbe had another five kills while Nicole Bateman and Beck Novacek had four each while Chelsy Christoff led the defensive efforts with eight digs in the finale.

"We benefited from good and consistent play throughout the day from most of the team," Sheffield said. "Mandy (Robbe) and Becky (Novacek) were especially strong for us on Saturday."

Dayton also announced a change to its Spring schedule. UD will forgo the Great Lakes Invitational next Saturday. The Flyers are still tentatively scheduled to travel to Cincinnati for the UD Spring Invitational on April 26.