Nov. 19, 2005
Box Score
KINGSTON, RI - The University of Dayton won its third-consecutive Atlantic 10 Volleyball Championship with a 3-0 (30-22, 30-26, 30-26) sweep of Temple at Rhode Island's Keaney Gymnasium on Saturday.
With the win, Dayton (23-9) clinches its third consecutive berth in the NCAA Championship. UD will learn its First Round site and opponent on Sunday, Nov. 27 as part of the NCAA selection show on ESPN News at 2:30 p.m. ET.
The Flyers also lifted their winning streak to 18 consecutive matches and became the first team since Temple in 1997-99 to win three consecutive A-10 Titles. In fact, UD is one of just four teams in the 24-year A-10 history of the sport to win the title in three straight years (Penn State 1983-90; George Washington 1993-95; Temple 1997-99).
A-10 Coach of the Year Tim Horsmon won his seventh conference title overall in as many seasons as a collegiate head coach. He is now 14-0 all-time in conference tournament play with seven titles including three at Dayton, which is the best start in NCAA history.
"I am extremely proud of our team's effort tonight," Horsmon said. "The players deserve credit for working so hard this year. Their commitment to the program is tough. We get after it every day and we demand of them at the highest level, but this is why we do it. We have a character team and they rose to the occasion throughout the season."
Dayton out hit Temple .308 to .179 and took over an otherwise tightly contested match with a 15.5 to 6.0 advantage in blocks.
"Our assistant coaches Tami (Ores), Jason (Oliver) and Christy (Utnage) put together a great game plan," Horsmon said. "We had a distinct game plan and really executed it tonight. We really worked on shutting down their outsides and I think we did a great job of that after they had a great match against us earlier in the season."
A-10 Second Team pick Robynne Green led all players with 10 total blocks (1 solo, 9 assists) to go along with nine kills and two digs.
Sophomore Jamie-Lee Richards followed with seven blocks and six kills as six Flyers had multiple blocks on the night.
A-10 All-Rookie Team selection Kortney Norris added four blocks and hit .385 with 12 kills. She was followed by Amanda Kenny, Faye Barhorst and Nicole Schott with two blocks a piece.
Barhorst, the 2005 A-10 Player of the Year, led UD with 13 kills while hitting .632. She was also named the Most Outstanding Player of the A-10 Championship as she hit .478 with 26 kills and 11 blocks on the weekend. She was joined on the All-Championship Team by teammates Green, Norris and Schott. Temple (23-10) was represented by sophomore Yue Liu and freshman Patricia Vernon.
Schott, a senior from Roscoe, Ill., also earned the distinction of being the first player in UD history to close out her career with three A-10 Titles after dishing out 41 assists on the night.
Defensively, UD was led by sophomore libero Adrienne Green with 12 digs while freshmen Erin Schroeder and Brittney Scheeringa added eight and seven respectively.
Before heading to postseason play, Dayton will host the A-10/MAC Thanksgiving Classic at Frericks Center on Friday and Saturday. UD takes on Kent State Friday at 7:30 p.m. and Miami (Ohio) on Saturday at 4:00 p.m.
