July 23, 2008

PHILADELPHIA - Defending Atlantic 10 Champion Dayton was selected to finish second in the Atlantic 10 West Division in the A-10 Preseason Coaches Poll released Wednesday. Voting was conducted among the conference's 10 member head coaches with each person not allowed to vote for his or her own team.

Saint Louis and Temple were slated to win the West and East Divisions respectively in 2008. Dayton followed the Billikens in second place while Xavier, which earned an at-large berth to the 2007 NCAA Tournament, was third followed by Rhode Island and Duquesne in the West Division.

UD had one of the most dominant seasons in recent memory of any Atlantic 10 team in 2007 with a 33-2 overall record including a 12-1 mark in Atlantic 10 play while winning its fourth consecutive A-10 Regular Season Championship. The Flyers also won the A-10 Tournament title for the fourth time in the last five seasons to earn an automatic berth into the NCAA Tournament. Dayton closed out its best season in modern history by advancing to the NCAA Second Round in front of a sold-out crowd at its own Frericks Center.

The Flyers were ranked as high as No. 12 in the AVCA Top 25 Coaches Poll last season and were ranked for ranked for the final 15 of a possible 17 weeks. It marked the first time that a team from the Atlantic 10 Conference had been ranked since Temple which broke into the final poll of the 2002 season.

Dayton lost just three letterwinners from last year's team including AVCA Honorable Mention All-America selection Jamie-Lee Richards and UD's all-time leader in digs Adrienne Green. Returning for Dayton in 2008 will be five starters led by fifth-year senior and AVCA Honorable Mention All-America candidate Erin Schroeder at setter. Also, Dayton can rely upon AVCA All-Region selection Bethany Akerhielm as well as 2007 A-10 Rookie of the Year Lindsay Fletemier in the front row to go along with a total of five seniors for first-year head coach Kelly Sheffield.

UD will host a pair of exhibition matches at Frericks Center in preparation for the 2008 regular season. The Flyers will hold the Red and Blue scrimmage on August 16 at 8:30 p.m. ET and its third annual Alumnae Match on August 23 at 5 p.m. ET. Dayton will then head to Tempe, AZ for the season-opening ASU Sheraton Classic on August 29 & 30 before returning home to host the Dayton Flyer Invitational on September 5 & 6. For ticket information including the availability of season tickets for Flyer volleyball, contact the UD Ticket Office at (937) 229-4433.