Sept. 6, 2008

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The University of Dayton Flyers swept the Dayton Flyer Invitational after knocking off Cleveland State in five sets (21-25, 25-13, 25-17, 17-25, 15-10). Erin Schroeder and Linsday Fletemier received All-Tournament honors and senior middle blocker Bethany Akerhielm took home the Dayton Flyer Invitational MVP award.

With the momentum of three straight wins, UD propels their way to a 4-2 start on the season and a 3-0 record in their own backyard. Cleveland State slid to 1-5 overall after being swept in the tournament.

Nearly 2,000 Dayton fans piled into the Frericks Center over the weekend to watch the Flyers take home the tournament trophy Saturday.

"We had three coaches that were absolutely floored about coming into Frericks Center and playing," Sheffield said, "Every one of them thought that this was as good of a venue as there is in the country and this is the best environment I have ever been in. It is fun to play in Frericks I will tell you that."

Fletemier notched 19 kills in the win for a .324 hitting percentage. Fletemier added 5.0 blocks in the match to tie Becky Novacek for the match-high block total. Akerhielm swatted her way to a .400 attack percentage notching nine kills on 20 attempts. She added four blocks and two digs for Dayton. Schroeder pieced together a solid night recording a double-double with team-highs in assists (45) and digs (15). Schroeder also added three service aces for UD.

"Our team had individuals that came up really big for us each match," Sheffield said, "This isn't a team that leans on one person. We have a lot of players with the ability to make plays for us."

Dayton out-blocked the Vikings in the match 11.0 to 5.0 and hit an astounding .522 as a team in the second set. The Flyers closed out the match hitting .412 in the final set with nine kills on 17 total team attempts.

"Our biggest advantage this weekend was cutting down on our errors," Sheffield said, "The ability to know when to go for it and when to keep the ball in play when teams get to 20 is very important."

The Flyers head to Knoxville, Tenn. for a showdown against 19th ranked Illinois at the Comcast Lady Vol Classic on Friday, Sept. 12 at Noon ET. UD will also face Gardner-Webb and close out the tournament against the Tennessee Volunteers. For the latest information including news, highlights and scores visit www.DaytonFlyers.com.