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Megan Campbel ranks 43rd in the NCAA with a .393 hitting percentage. |
Facing one of the toughest tournament fields of the season, the No. 20 Dayton Flyers head to Tulsa, Okla. to compete in the Golden Hurricane Invitational. Dayton will face host Tulsa, No. 10 Minnesota and No. 19 Kansas State in a two-day span. Live stats, audio and video will be available at DaytonFlyers.com.
FLYERS IN THE AVCA RANKINGS
For the third consecutive week, the Flyers earned a national ranking placing at No. 20 in the latest American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Top 25 Poll. Dayton began the season receiving votes, but was previously ranked No. 11 and No. 10 after a 6-0 start. Dayton’s No. 10 ranking was the highest in the program’s history. The previous high ranking came when UD was ranked No. 12 during the week of Oct. 15, 2007 and Nov. 22, 2010. This is the 50th consecutive week the Flyers have either been ranked or receiving votes in the AVCA poll. UD’s streak of receiving votes dates back to Nov. 23, 2009.
ABOUT MINNESOTA
The No. 10 Minnesota Golden Gophers are rolling with a 6-1 overall record. Minnesota possesses the highest hitting percentage in NCAA Division I at .355. Minnesota also ranks third in the nation in kills at 15.38 per set. Katherine Harms and Tori Dixon are both are among the national leaders at their positions. Harms is a senior outside hitter and is ranked 23rd in the nation in kills, averaging 4.33 per set. Dixon is a junior middle blocker and has the highest hitting percentage in the nation at .551.
ABOUT TULSA
Tulsa enters the tournament 7-4 overall and has won four of its last five matches. The Golden Hurricane are the two-time defending Conference USA champions. Leading the way for the Hurricane is senior Tyler Henderson, who has earned second-team All-America accolades the past two seasons and was named the C-USA Player of the Year in 2010 and 2011. Henderson leads the NCAA in total kills (231) and kills per set (5.5).
ABOUT KANSAS STATE
The Wildcats are off to its best start in school history with a 9-0 start, and eight of those wins coming in 3-0 sweeps of their opponents. K-State’s offense has proven to be among the nation’s best this season as well. The Wildcats are hitting .273 as a team to rank 27th in the first NCAA statistical rankings of the season. Senior Alex Muff ranks fourth in the nation in blocks per set, averaging 1.6, while junior Kaitlynn Pelger is currently 42nd in the nation in aces and leads KSU in hitting percentage at .329.
SERIES STUFF
Dayton has the following all-time records against the three WKU Invitational opponents.
Minnesota: 0-2
Tulsa: 1-0
Kansas State: First Meeting
HIGH OCTANE OFFENSE
Dayton showcases one of the top offenses in the country ranking 24th as a team in both kills (14.38) and hitting percentage (.275). UD also ranks 18th in the NCAA in assists per set (13.5). Setting the tone for the offense is Dayton’s defense, which ranks 24th in the NCAA in kills per set (14.38).
HOORAY FOR KRAY
Senior Rachel Krabacher continues to put together an MVP-like season for the Flyers. Krabacher ranks 13th in the NCAA in kills per set (4.55) and second in the Atlantic 10. She won the University Plaza Most Valuable Player award and a spot on the all-tournament team after leading Dayton with 45 kills (5.00/set) and ranked second in digs (2.78/set). It was her sixth career all-tournament team selection and second MVP award.
SPECIAL KRAY
Rachel Krabacher, the 2011 Atlantic 10 Player of the Year, became the 20th Flyer to reach the 1,000-career kill mark at Dayton in the match versus No. 7 Illinois. Her career-high 500 kills last season was the seventh most in a single-season. Krabacher led UD with 17 kills against No. 7 Illinois, added nine versus No. 11 Pepperdine and 20 versus Ohio.
DOUBLE IT UP
Samantha Selsky leads Dayton and is tied for first the Atlantic 10 with five double-doubles. She started the season with five double-doubles in her first seven matches.
SLAMMIN SAMMY
Setter Samantha Selsky continues to drive the Flyer offensive attack. Selsky ranks fifth in the NCAA and leads the Atlantic 10 in assists (12.16 a/s). She earned all-tournament team honors at the University Plaza Invitational after she dished out 13.44 assists per set. Selsky enjoyed a solid Flyer Classic averaging 11.36 assists per set and 3.82 digs per set. Selsky recorded a season-high 55 assists versus Ohio State. She also had 50 assists and 16 digs against Ohio. Selsky last season was an AVCA Honorable Mention All-American, Atlantic 10 Setter of the Year and an Atlantic 10 First Team All-Conference selection.
HONING HER CRAFT
Freshman Janna Krafka has made a name for herself in a short amount of time. Krafka has a streak of nine consecutive matches with 10 or more digs to start the season. The freshman earned the 2012 Flyer Classic Most Outstanding Player award. She came back at the University Plaza Invitational and tallied 51 digs in nine sets. She recorded a season-high 29 against Ohio State. This season, Krafka leads Dayton and ranks second in the A-10 in digs (151). More importantly, her efforts have helped Dayton upset two ranked opponents after going winless last season against the AVCA Top 25 in six matches.
TURNER THE BURNER
Not to be outdone, freshman Alaina Turner continues to impress. Turner recorded her first career double-double with 11 kills and 10 digs against Oral Roberts. She enjoyed a memorable opening weekend earning a spot on the Flyer Classic All-Tournament team. She was second on the team with 11 kills against No. 7 Illinois. She added another 11 kills for the team-lead against No. 11 Pepperdine. She added 15 kills in the victory against Ohio. Turner ranks second on the team in kills per set (2.55)
MMM MMM GOOD
Megan Campbell, a Third Team AVCA All-American, ranks 43rd in the NCAA with a .393 hitting percentage. She began the season with a dominating performance against No. 7 Illinois. She had 11 kills and hit .786 against the Fighting Illini. Campbell continued her dominance earning all-tournament team honors at the University Plaza Invitational. At that tournament, she hit .432 and had the second-most blocks on the team with nine.
CAMP CAMPBELL
Megan Campbell also ranks second in single-season block-assists at Dayton with 150. Just two years ago, Lindsay Fletemier set the block-assists record with 155. Campbell is also second in single-season hitting percentage at Dayton (.412), behind Faye Barhorst (.431) from 2006. Campbell finished with the fourth-best hitting percentage in the nation. In her second season with the Flyers, the Versailles, Ohio native has a .383 career hitting percentage mark – a program-high.
TURNING THE PAIGE
Defensive specialist Paige Vargas continues to solidify the Flyer defense. She moved from the libero position to the defensive specialist spot this season. The results have been strong with Vargas playing in all 32 sets and helping the Flyers limit opponents to a .189 hitting percentage. In the Flyer Classic, Vargas made 20 digs. Vargas ranks second in career digs at Dayton with 1,510 after three seasons as the starting libero. Dayton’s career digs record is held by Adrienne Ross-Green (2004-07) with 2,070.
BIG Z
Isolde Hannan, nicknamed Z by her teammates, earned an Atlantic 10 All-Rookie Team spot in 2011. Hannan leads Dayton with 41 blocks. She had eight kills and five blocks versus Ohio State. At the University Plaza Invitational, Hannan led with 11 blocks and ranked second with 22 kills. She recorded seven blocks in the win over No. 11 Pepperdine. Hannan was the ninth Flyer on an All-Rookie Team and first since Rachel Krabacher in 2009. Last year she recorded 104 total blocks and 0.93 blocks per set, which led all A-10 freshmen.
DOWNTOWN BROWN
In her last five matches, right side/middle blocker Shayne Brown ranks second on the Flyers with 2.28 kills per set. She is hitting a team-best .461 during that span. Brown earned all-tournament team honors at the WKU Invitational.
BELIEVE IN BROWN
Shayne Brown has had some memorable performances early in 2012. She tallied a season-high 11 kills in 12 attempts against Tennessee Tech. In the Oral Roberts win, Brown led with nine kills and a .471 hitting percentage. She ranked second on the team with nine kills in the four-set upset against No. 11 Pepperdine.
THE MOREY THE BETTER
Allyson Morey adds quality depth from the Flyer bench. At the University Plaza Invitational, she had six digs in five sets. Morey last year led the Atlantic 10 in aces per set with 0.38. Morey’s 42 total aces are the most aces in a single season at UD since Jamie-Lee Richards recorded 65 in 2007.
SIBLING RIVALRY
Tennis has Venus and Serena Williams. In professional football, it’s Peyton and Eli Manning. For the Flyer Classic it was the Jendryk sisters, Jessica and Jenna. The daughters of Jeff and Jennifer Jendryk faced off for the first time in college as Dayton upset No. 7 Illinois. Jessica, a redshirt junior for Illinois, was a Academic All-Big Ten as a freshman. Jenna, a freshman for the Flyers, was an Under Armour High School All-American last year. Jenna Jendryk this season averages 1.45 kills and 0.55 blocks per set.
WEEKEND OF FIRSTS
For freshmen Jill Loiars, Angel Agu and Kaitlyn Krause, it was a weekend of collegiate firsts at the University Plaza Invitational. Loiars recorded her first career kill, block and dig against Austin Peay. Agu added her first collegiate kill and Krause had her first dig.
KRABACHER, KRAFKA EARN ATLANTIC 10 AWARDS
A pair of Dayton Flyers received Atlantic 10 weekly awards on Aug. 27 as senior Rachel Krabacher earned the Atlantic 10’s Offensive Player of the Week award and freshman Janna Krafka named the co-Defensive Player of the Week. It was the sixth time Krabacher has earned an A-10 Offensive Player of the Week award in her Dayton career and Krafka’s first collegiate career weekly award.
UD PICKED TO WIN THE A-10 CROWN
Defending Atlantic 10 conference volleyball champion Flyers have been unanimously selected as the 2012 Atlantic 10 preseason favorite in a vote conducted among the league’s 12 head coaches. The Flyers (25-7, 14-1 Atlantic 10) won both the 2011 regular season and the A-10 Championship, their third straight title and fourth in the last five years. The Flyers garnered all 12 first-place votes for a point total of 144 in the poll. This was the third consecutive year Dayton was picked to finish first in the conference’s preseason poll.
FOLLOW THE FLYERS ON SOCIAL MEDIA
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