Dayton Flyers

Nov. 18, 2010

NEWPORT NEWS, Va. – Four University of Dayton volleyball players were named Atlantic 10 First Team All-Conference, including Player of the Year Lindsay Fletemier and Setter of the Year Jessica Yanz, the conference office announced on Thursday. Head Coach Kelly Sheffield earned his first A-10 Coach of the Year honor after guiding the Flyers to an undefeated conference season to win the program’s eighth Atlantic 10 regular season title.

Senior Becky Novacek was named Atlantic 10 Student-Athlete of the Year while earning First Team All-Conference honors for the second consecutive season. Senior Amanda Cowdrey received her first A-10 all-conference recognition as a First Team selection. Junior Yvonne Marten joined Novacek on the Academic All-Conference Team to make Dayton the only team with two Academic All-Conference selections this season. Dayton has had multiple First Team All-Conference selections in 14 of the 16 seasons as a member of the Atlantic 10 Conference. The class of four Dayton first-teamers this season ties a program record and is the most since 2000.

Fletemier caps off another dominating conference season with her second consecutive Player of the Year award after sharing it last season with Saint Louis’ Sammi McCloud. Fletemier is the only player in the A-10 with a hitting percentage over .400 this season and is just one of two players in NCAA Division I to rank in the top 10 in both hitting percentage and blocks per set. With a .476 hitting percentage during conference play, Fletemier became a five-time Offensive or Defensive Player of the Week and has won a total of 16 conference weekly awards in her four years with the Flyers. The Garden City, Mich., native has recorded five or more blocks in 16 matches, including a season-high of 11 with 17 kills against Santa Clara (9/17) to register a rare kill-block double-double. The two-time ACVA All-American has earned First Team All-Conference for three straight years and was named A-10 Rookie of the Year in her freshman campaign.

Yanz brings Setter of the Year accolades back to Dayton for the first time since 2006 when Nicole Schott (2005) and Erin Schroeder (2006) won the award in back-to-back years. In her first season with Dayton, the senior transfer has guided the Flyers to the top of the conference in overall hitting percentage and kills per set during conference play. While recording 10.69 assists per set with a .325 hitting percentage, Yanz has registered a team-best 12 double-doubles. On Oct. 26, The Bolingbrook, Ill., native was named A-10 Offensive Player of the Week after guiding Dayton to a then season-high .427 hitting percentage against George Washington. Yanz, a graduate transfer from Nebraska, is the first newcomer to earn A-10 Setter of the Year honors.

Sheffield shares his first A-10 Coach of the Year honor with Duquesne’s Steve Opperman. Sheffield guided the 13th-ranked Flyers to back-to-back regular season titles as the UD became just the second team in 13 years to run the table in A-10 conference play with an undefeated 15-0 record. The Flyers hold the highest single-season hitting percentage (.258) in program history, while also leading the A-10 in opponent hitting percentage and blocks per set. Off the court, Sheffield has mentored the Flyers through one of the most adverse situations a coach can face: the death of a student-athlete – last season’s starting setter Kacie Hausfeld who tragically passed away in a plane crash with her father, Tom, last spring. In her memory, with Sheffield’s leadership, UD is in the midst of one of the most-successful seasons in program history. With a top 15 RPI and a national ranking for 16 consecutive weeks, Sheffield has all but guided Dayton to three NCAA Tournament berths in three seasons on the UD sideline. On Sept. 17, Sheffield captured his 200th career victory in his 10th season overall as a head coach.

Last January Sheffield also helped bring the first NCAA Volleyball Championship Regional to Dayton. The Regional will be hosted at UD Arena on Dec. 10 and 11. Given the Flyers advance past the first and second rounds of the NCAA Tournament, UD will play in the Dayton Regional. 

Novacek is the second Flyer to win the A-10 Student-Athlete of the Year after maintaining a 3.9 GPA in business while earning First Team All-Conference recognition for the second straight season. The three-year starter for the Flyers leads the A-10 in blocks per set during conference play and is one of just three A-10 players with 100 total blocks or more this season. Novacek has recorded a hitting percentage over .350 in nine matches, including a .583 mark and a career-high 10 blocks at Temple on Oct. 8. The Aliquippa, Pa., native has a growing list of academic awards this season, being named CoSIDA/ESPN Academic All-District in early November and a candidate for the Lowes Senior CLASS Award before the season. Erin Treadway was the first Flyer to win A-10 Student-Athlete of the Year in 2003.

Cowdrey rounds out Dayton’s four members named First Team All-Conference. With a wide range of volleyball skills the Brampton, Ontario native has recorded 26 double-doubles the last two seasons to lead the team during that time period. On Sept. 28, Cowdrey was named A-10 Defensive Player of the Week after recording 27 digs and 12 kills at Saint Louis to open the conference season. Cowdrey ranks fourth in the A-10 in digs per set during conference play and ranks in the overall conference top 10 with 33 aces. In the back-row Cowdrey stands apart as one of the most-disciplined passers in the conference with just 11 reception errors all season. After transferring to the program last season, Cowdrey has recorded over 500 kills and 750 digs in two years.

Marten joins Novacek on the Academic All-Conference team with a 3.80 GPA as a pre-dentistry emphasis. The Fortville, Ind., native is a redshirt junior for the Flyers and returned from injury in 2010 to start for UD for first time since 2007. Marten ranks eighth in the A-10 in blocks per set and fifth during conference play. Marten features three matches with a season-high of 11 kills – all against conference rivals Xavier (10/15, 10/29) and Saint Louis (9/24). Her season-high of six blocks has occurred in two matches, including an effort to defeat then No. 22 Northern Iowa on Sept. 3.

The Flyers will be the top seed in the 2010 Atlantic 10 Championship which begins on Friday in Cincinnati, hosted by Xavier at the Cintas Center. With a first round bye, UD will play fourth-seeded Duquesne or fifth-seeded Fordham on Saturday at 7:30 p.m.