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Senior Amanda Cowdrey recorded 14 kills and 22 digs on Friday. |
CINCINNATI, Ohio – It took five sets – all decided by two points – but 18th-ranked Dayton volleyball won its 11th consecutive match after defeating rival Xavier at the Cintas Center on Friday night to remain unbeaten in Atlantic 10 Conference play (25-27, 25-23, 25-27, 26-24, 15-13).
“It was a grind tonight – you don’t see too many matches where all five sets are decided by two points,” Head Coach Kelly Sheffield said. “We didn’t play great tonight but we didn’t give up on the match. I am very proud of the way that we fought and battled – that is a quality that a winning team has to have. I don’t think we are pleased with the way that we played, but we are pleased with the way that we ground-out this win.”
Dayton (16-3, 7-0 A-10) wins its third five-set contest of the season in three tries after winning for just the second time in five years at Xavier’s (12-7, 5-2) Cintas Center.
The Flyers were led by a balanced attack of five players in double-digit kills – led by senior Amanda Cowdrey’s 14, four players with over 20 digs, three players with double-doubles, and three players with six block-assists.
Cowdrey added 22 digs for her sixth double-double of the season. Sophomore outside hitter and Cincinnati native Rachel Krabacher was the other kill-dig double-double with 12 kills and 24 digs. Senior setter Jessica Yanz was one assist away from tying a career-high, finishing with 53 assists and 21 digs for her team-leading 10th double-double of the season.
Defensive specialists Paige Vargas and Rachel Broerman combined for 40 of Dayton’s 121 digs, as Vargas set a season-high of 28 digs. With Xavier recording 140 digs on the night, a total of 261 digs between the teams were tallied on Friday night.
The Flyers out-blocked the Musketeers 13.0-to-5.0 as senior Becky Novacek, junior Yvonne Marten and senior Lindsay Fletemier each recorded six block-assists.
Xavier libero Stephanie Vorherr passed for an astounding career-high of 43 digs. Senior outside hitter Shannon Voors connected for a match-high of 19 kills on 73 swings.
UD was denied of a sixth consecutive straight set victory after dropping the first set against the Musketeers 25-27 while hitting at a .062 rate with nine attacking errors. Making adjustments in the second set yielded just one attacking error on the Flyers’ side – recovering with a 25-23 win to even the match at intermission.
The Flyers returned from the break to lose the third set in extra points, 25-27, after surrendering 11 points on errors -- seven attacking errors, three service errors and one reception error.
The last two sets were truly played in grind-it-out fashion as neither team recorded a hitting percentage of over .100. UD avoided its first conference loss of the season to force a fifth set with a 26-24 extra-point win in the fourth set. The Flyers jumped off to a 12-6 advantage in the final set, only to see that lead evaporate as XU went on a 6-2 run to come within one point of tying the set. UD was able to close the door on the Musketeers with a 15-13 win in the fifth – the only set with no ties or lead changes.
It is the only match of the weekend for the Flyers, as they prepare to host George Washington and Charlotte next weekend in Dayton. On Friday, the George Washington match begins at 7 p.m. ET in the Frericks Center. The Charlotte match on Saturday will be held at UD Arena beginning at 4:30 p.m. ET.
