Sept. 11, 2008
MATCH NOTES 
After defending their turf against the Northwestern Wildcats, Towson Tigers and defending Horizon League champion Cleveland State, the University of Dayton Flyers will travel to the Volunteer State for the Lady Vol Classic which pits them against against No. 17 Illinois, Gardner-Webb and tournament host Tennessee.
Dayton rides into the tournament after a standout performance at the Frericks Center. The Flyers are led by Dayton Flyer Invitational MVP Bethany Akerhielm, the Cincinnati, Ohio senior that swatted a .385 percentage in the tournament and added five digs and seven blocks last weekend. On the season, Akerhielm has been hitting .328. As a team, the Flyers rank 25th in the nation with 14.08 kills per set played.
Lindsay Fletemier racked up 50 kills last weekend in three matches. Fletemier has 23 blocks this season including five blocks apiece against Towson and CSU. Fletemier garnered all-tournament accolades after notching 21 kills against Northwestern, and following that up with 19 kills against Cleveland State.
Erin Schroeder leads UD in assists by a wide margin. Schroeder is ranked 37th in the country with 10.68 assists per set and has garnered all-tournament honors in each tournament she has played in this season.
Senior Nicole Bateman has fired up in the digs column. Bateman accumulated an astounding 35 digs against Towson last Saturday to help the Flyers close out the Tigers 3-1. Dayton ranks 14th in the nation with 16.76 digs per set.
ABOUT THE OPPONENT
The Flyers will face No.17 Illinois to open the tournament. Illinois took wins over William and Mary and UD's Atlantic 10 rival Saint Louis while falling to then No. 3 ranked Stanford in three straight sets. Dayton and Illinois have been fierce competitors the past two seasons splitting wins between the programs. The Flyers knocked off the Fighting Illini in five sets to win the Dayton Flyer Classic in 2007.
Laura DeBruler leads the Fightin Illini with 4.59 kills per set and 101 kills on the year. DeBruler has also notched four service aces for Illinois. Lizzie Bazzetta and Hillary Haen share the duties on setting with 107 and 122 assists respectively. Junior Ashley Edinger has 105 digs this season and averages 4.77 digs per set.
The Gardner-Webb Runnin' Bulldogs are winless on the road and have been shut out in each road contest this season. G-W has notched wins against Charleston Southern and Winston-Salem State to bring their win-loss total to 2-5. This will be the first meeting between UD and Gardner-Webb.
Dayton will close out the tournament against 3-3 Tennessee. The Lady Vols are coming off an 0-3 showing at the Pioneer Classic where they were dropped by Iowa, Virginia and Denver. UD holds the historical advantage over Tennessee with a 1-0 lead.
UT is led offensively by Milan Clarke. In six matches Clarke is averaging 3.00 kills per set and has amassed 72 total kills this season. Michaela Hanakova and Kelsey Mahoney share the workload for setting with both averaging 4.00 assists per set or better. Kylie Marshall has a team-high 3.42 digs per set and 41 on the season.
BETHANY'S BIG DAY
Bethany Akerhielm had a standout performance during the Dayton Flyer Invitational on September 5 and 6. Akerhielm was .385 from the floor with 2.29 kills per set adding five digs and seven blocks to become the MVP of the Dayton Flyer Invitational. Akerhielm is currently hitting .319 this season, ranking her eighth in the Atlantic 10.
ASSISTING THE ATTACK
Senior Erin Schroeder is off to a fiery start this season. She is ranked 37th, nationally, in assists per set averaging 10.68. Schroeder's numbers rank her third in the Atlantic 10. In addition, Schroeder was named to the Dayton Flyer Invitational and ASU Sheraton Classic All-Tournament teams.
THE GARDEN CITY GRENADE
Redshirt sophomore Lindsay Fletemier hit .684 in the Flyers' win over UNLV. Fletemier is currently ranked sixth in the Atlantic 10 with a .330 hitting percentage this season. She is fifth in kills per set. Fletemier was named to the Dayton Flyer Invitational All-Tournament team after helping her team sweep the tournament.
CAN YOU DIG IT?
Two Flyers rank among the A-10's top defensive players. Nicole Bateman leads the defensive workload with 4.28 digs per set, while Erin Schroeder is averaging 3.56 digs per set. Bateman is fourth in the A-10 while Schroeder is sixth.
OK, NOW DIG THIS!
The Flyers are coming up with big digs as a team. Nicole Bateman had 35 digs in a four set win over the Towson Tigers. In addition, the Flyers rank 14th in the nation with 16.76 digs per set.
BACK ON THE ATTACK
In addition to being nationally ranked in digs per set, the Flyers are ranked 25th in the nation in kills per set with 14.08 per set.
FIERCE COMPETITION
The Flyers are facing a downright fierce schedule this season. UD opponents include 15th ranked Purdue, 17th ranked Illinois, conference rival Saint Louis, who beat No. 3 Stanford on Sept. 6. and a Miami (OH) team that is currently receiving votes after downing No. 10 Wisconsin.
SHEFFIELD NABS FIRST WIN
Head Coach Kelly Sheffield collected his first win as a Flyer on Aug. 29 after helping direct the team to a 3-1 win over the UNLV Rebels. The Flyers closed out the Rebels 23-25, 25-18, 25-21, 26-24 and finished 1-2 in the tournament.
SOARING TO NEW HEIGHTS
The Flyers had an unprecedented year in 2007. After knocking off 17th ranked Purdue in three sets and going 32-1, the Flyers climbed as high as 12th In the AVCA Top 25 polls before losing in the second round of the NCAA Tournament to Michigan State.
FLYING HIGH IN FRERICKS
The ferocious Frericks Center has been a challenge for visitors over the past five seasons as the Flyers hold a 54-11 (.830) record at home since 2004. The 5,000-seat venue is the third-largest volleyball only facility in the nation and with an average attendance of more than1,000, the Frericks Center gives the Flyers a definite home court advantage.
TOURNAMENT TEAMS
Dayton has appeared in the NCAA Tournament four times since 2003. They have advanced to the second round twice in 2003 and 2007. Last season they played to a sold out crowd at Frericks Center as the Flyers hosted the First and Second Rounds.
SIZING UP THE COMPETITION
The Flyers will face a competitive schedule this season matching up against nine teams that advanced to the NCAA Tournament last season while taking part in 15 home matches at Frericks Center.
The average record of this season's opponents in 2007 was 18-13 with nine different teams reaching the 20-win plateau. Cleveland State, Miami (Ohio), Long Island, Louisville, Ohio, UNLV and Xavier all took part in the NCAA First Round while Albany and Purdue each advanced to the NCAA Second Round. Five schools won their conference tournament while three others advanced to their respective championship match.
OLD MEETS NEW
The 2008 Dayton Flyers closed out the Alumnae in just three sets during a preseason tune-up on August 23. The Flyers were tested by a tough alumnae squad that was made up of three winners of the Atlantic 10 Player of the Year award, 2003 recipient Erin Treadway, 2004 honoree Christy Utnage as well as the 2005 and 2006 recipient Faye Barhorst. Jamie Lee-Richards a two-time honoree for A-10 First Team All-Conference, Carrie (Snider) Dearth the UD record holder for digs in a single-season and Adrienne Green the record holder for digs in a career were also among the present alumnae. Three-time A-10 Championship winner Margo Moeller and UD Assistant Athletics Director / Senior Woman Administrator Megan Pease capped off a tough alumnae squad.
VOLLEYBALL PICKED SECOND IN ATLANTIC 10
Defending Atlantic 10 Champion Dayton was selected to finish second in the Atlantic 10 West Division in the A-10 Preseason Coaches Poll. 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.
COOKING WITH SHEFF
The University of Dayton welcomed Kelly Sheffield as the seventh head coach in Flyer volleyball history on March 25, 2008.
Sheffield, a native of Muncie, Ind., came to UD after seven seasons as the head coach at Albany. A two-time America East Conference Coach of the Year, Sheffield led the Great Danes to three trips to the NCAA Tournament including a berth in the second round this past season. Albany won back-to-back Conference Tournament Championships under Sheffield and three titles in his last four years. In addition, Albany volleyball won 20 matches or more in four out of five seasons.
SHEFFIELD THROWS OUT OPENING PITCH
The Dayton community rolled out the red carpet for new head coach Kelly Sheffield when the Dayton Dragons, a Class A affiliate of the Cincinnati Reds featured Sheffield as the ceremonial first pitch on Aug. 17 at Fifth Third Field in downtown Dayton.
FLYERS TOPPING 20
UD has won at least 20 matches in each of the last seven seasons. The Flyers have also posted 13 consecutive winning seasons and have more wins in the last five seasons (110) than any other five-year period in its Division I history.
NEW ADDITIONS TO THE FLYER FAMILY
In addition to signing Kelly Sheffield to be the next head coach for UD, the Flyers also welcomed two new faces to the mix. Assistant coaches Matt Affolder and Kristin Fiorillo joined the Flyer family in April to complete the coaching staff for the season.
Affolder made his way to UD after stops in Indiana, Southern Illinois and Indiana State before calling himself a Flyer. During his time at IU, Affolder worked as a recruiting coordinator and coach of the outside hitters with the Hoosiers.
Fiorillo, one of Sheffield's former student-athletes, joined the staff after a year-long stint with Division III SUNY New Paltz. Fiorillo was the top assistant for SUNY New Paltz and helped guide them to a 27-12 overall record and an 8-2 mark in SUNYAC play. The squad advanced to the semifinals of their conference tournament on the strength of the SUNYAC East Division Player of the Year, one First Team selection and two Second Team picks.
GETTING PROPS
For their efforts in a historic 2007 season, senior Erin Schroeder and redshirt sophomore Lindsay Fletemier received conference and national honors. Fletemier earned Atlantic 10 Rookie of the Year honors for her outstanding play. Fletemier had a conference hitting percentage of .346 and was second on the team in kills per set with 2.86. In addition, Fletemier earned six A-10 Rookie of the Week awards.
Erin Schroeder and alumna Jamie-Lee Richards earned Honorable Mention All-America by the AVCA. Dayton tallied kills on 42.1 percent of the balls set by Schroeder who averaged 12.01 assists per game in 2007. She was also second on the team with 2.84 digs per game and is more than 80 percent of the way to becoming just the second player in program history to record both 1,000 career assists and 1,000 career digs. Schroeder was Second Team All-Conference selection this season while also being named to the All-Championship Team.
