Noting the Flyers (15-3, 6-0)
No. 18 Dayton holds its highest ranking of the season in the AVCA Poll after winning its 10th consecutive match with sweeps over Temple and La Salle last weekend ... Dayton leads the A-10 in four categories – hitting percentage (.243), opponent hitting percentage (.123), blocks per set (3.06), and digs per set (16.94) ... Nationally, the Flyers rank fifth in blocks per set, and 22nd in digs per set ... Senior Lindsay Fletemier ranks second in the nation in blocks per set (1.71) ... Sophomore Rachel Krabacher leads the team in kills per set with 2.68 ... Head Coach Kelly Sheffield recently earned his 200th career win on Sept. 17 against Santa Clara at the Notre Dame Invitational ... The Flyers have been ranked in the AVCA Top-25 for 11 consecutive weeks ... In addition to Dayton’s current 10-match winning streak, Flyer volleyball also boasts a 19-match winning streak on its home court – the Frericks Center.
About Xavier (12-6, 5-1)
The Musketeers are led by first-year Head Coach Mike Johnson and come into the weekend ranked second in the Atlantic 10 Conference with a 5-1 record ... Xavier is on a four-match winning streak and holds a 3-2 record in home matches this season ... XU leads the A-10 in all the categories that UD does not: kills per set (13.3), assists per set (12.5) and aces per set (1.7) ... Senior outside hitter Shannon Voors leads the Musketeers with 3.76 kills per set on a .250 hitting percentage ... Junior Kathryn Traut is XU’s go-to middle with 287 swings on the season and a .317 hitting percentage ... Senior setter Claire Paszkiewicz has a conference-leading 11.29 assists per set and paces XU in total aces with 24.
The Series: Geographical rivals preceding Atlantic 10 membership, the Flyers lead the all-time series with Cincinnati-based Xavier 39-23 ... Last season the Musketeers handed UD its only loss during the conference season, which forced the Flyers to eventually share the regular season title with Saint Louis ... Of the two matches against Xavier last season, both went to five sets with each team protecting home court ... In front of a season-high 2,072 fans at the Frericks Center on Sept. 25, 2009, the Flyers defeated the Musketeers 3-2 despite putting up an inferior hitting percentage, .158 to XU’s .245 ... Later in the season, Xavier upset UD in five sets at the Cintas Center (10/30/09) with its branded fast-paced offense which out-gained UD in kills that night, 65-50 ... This season the rivalry adds a new chapter as Xavier’s new Head Coach Mike Johnson will face the Flyers for the first time ... UD Head Coach Kelly Sheffield holds a 3-1 all-time record against the Musketeers.
Inside the Rankings
The Flyers were given the highest ranking of the season this week at No. 18 in the AVCA Top-25 Coaches Poll ... The NCAA RPI debuted last week with Dayton ranked 12th ... UD is at No. 18 in this week’s RPI ... The Flyers have played four teams in the RPI top 10, including a win over fourth-ranked Northern Iowa ... In other national polls, RichKern.com places the Flyers at No. 15 and Volleyball Magazine puts UD at No. 18 ... The highest Dayton volleyball has been ranked in the AVCA Top-25 is No. 12 during the week of Oct. 15, 2007.
Conference Leaders, in More Ways Than 6-0
The Flyers lead the Atlantic 10 in four statistical categories including hitting percentage (.243), opponent hitting percentage (.123), blocks (3.1 per set), and digs (16.9 per set) ... UD also ranks third in assists (12.1 per set) and kills (12.9 per set) ... At 6-0 during conference play, UD is the lone undefeated team in the league and holds a cumulative eight-match winning streak in conference play.
Charlotte Match to be Held at UD Arena Next Weekend
On Saturday Oct. 23 the Flyers will move to the University of Dayton Arena to play Charlotte at 4:30 ... The move is a precursor to the NCAA Volleyball Regional which will be held at UD Arena from Dec. 10-11 – the NCAA requires the host school to play at least one home match at the Regional site during the regular season ... The Xavier match on Oct. 29, originally scheduled to be played at UD Arena, has been moved back to the Frericks Center.
Fletemier: Blocking Queen
Senior middle blocker Lindsay Fletemier ranks second in NCAA Division I in blocks per set (1.71) ... The Garden City, Mich., native has had at least one block in 62 consecutive matches played ... She holds a comfortable A-10 lead in blocks with 101.0 total and 1.71 per set ... Teammate and fellow senior Becky Novacek is second in the A-10 in b/s with 70.0 total and 1.17 per set ... Last season Fletemier finished the season ranked 35th in blocks per set (1.25) and 11th in hitting percentage (.389), gaining Third Team AVCA All-America honors.
Sheffield Wins 200th Career Match
Head Coach Kelly Sheffield won his 200th career match at the Notre Dame Invitational against Santa Clara on Sept. 17 ... Sheffield began the season with 193 wins and now holds a 208-99 record in his 10th season as a head coach ... In his third year at UD, Sheffield became the quickest head coach in program history to reach 50 wins in the modern scheduling format, going 51-17 in his first two seasons ... Sheffield spent seven years building the program at Albany, compiling 142 wins and three NCAA Tournament appearances ... Sheffield and wife Cathy recently gave birth to their first child, Alexa Grace, on Sept. 28, 2010.
Conference Season Success
In the past seven years, Dayton holds a 75-11 Atlantic 10 record without losing more than two conference matches in a season ... In that stretch UD has won five regular season crowns, five tournament titles, and made six trips to the NCAA Tournament ... The Flyers only remaining non-conference opponent is Ohio in the final regular season match of the season on Nov. 26 – after the A-10 Tournament ... The Flyers hold a 22-6 mark in non-conference matches since last season.
Top 25 Tour
Dayton has faced four top 25 opponents – including three in the top 10 – during its non-conference slate ... The Ameritas Players Challenge featured three teams ranked in the AVCA Top-25: No. 3 Illinois, No. 7 Nebraska and No. 20 Dayton ... The Diet Coke Classic in Minneapolis, Minn., also featured three ranked teams: No. 8 Minnesota, No. 20 Dayton, and No. 22 Northern Iowa ... The Flyers hold a 1-3 record against ranked opponents this season, defeating Northern Iowa on Sept. 3.
Dayton Atlantic 10 Players of the Week
Lindsay Fletemier, Senior, MB
Sept. 28 – Offensive Player of the Week
Second consecutive Offensive POW honor ... 2.75 kills per set on a .457 hitting percentage on the weekend against Saint Louis and Duquesne ... Six blocks, 12 kills, no attacking errors, and a .545 hitting percentage in a five-set win at SLU ... 10 kills, .375 hitting percentage, six blocks, 16 points in a three-set win at Duquesne.
Sept. 21 – Offensive Player of the Week
MVP of the Notre Dame Invitational with 37 kills and 22 blocks in the Flyers’ three wins over Santa Clara, Delaware and Notre Dame ... Only recorded five attacking errors in 68 swings for a .471 hitting percentage ... In five-sets with Santa Clara, recorded her first double-double of the season with 17 kills and 11 blocks ... 13 kills, no attacking errors and six blocks to help sweep Delaware ... Seven kills and five blocks to sweep host Notre Dame.
Sept. 7 – Defensive Player of the Week
Diet Coke Classic (Minnesota) All-Tournament Team selection after totaling 20 blocks and 28 kills in three matches ... Registered nine blocks to hold No. 22 Northern Iowa to a .166 hitting percentage in a five-set victory ... Helped hold Baylor to a .096 hitting percentage in the Flyers’ four-set win with six blocks and nine kills ... Tallied 11 kills and five blocks against No. 8 Minnesota.
Amanda Cowdrey, Senior, OH
Sept. 28 – Defensive Player of the Week
Earned her first Atlantic 10 weekly award after averaging 6.00 digs per set and totaling 48 in two matches ... Cowdrey tied her career-high of 27 digs in a five-set win over Saint Louis on Sept. 24 ... Added 12 kills and three blocks against the Billikens, helping the Flyers defeat SLU for the first time on the road since 2007 ... Cowdrey went on to record a three-set team season-high of 21 digs in a 3-0 sweep of Duquesne ... Behind Cowdrey’s defensive efforts, Dayton limited Saint Louis and Duquesne to mere .166 and .055 hitting percentages, respectively.
Novacek a Finalist for the Lowe’s Senior CLASS Award
Senior Becky Novacek was selected as one of thirty NCAA women’s volleyball student-athletes to be a candidate for the first-ever Lowe’s Senior CLASS (Celebrating Loyalty and Achievement for Staying in School) Award for volleyball ... To be eligible for the award, a student-athlete must be classified as an NCAA Division I senior and have notable achievements in four areas of excellence – community, classroom, character and competition ... Novacek is a 2009 First Team Atlantic 10 All-Conference selection ... The accounting major has earned Dayton’s Presidential Scholarship and has been listed on the Atlantic 10 Commissioner’s Honor Roll while helping UD to five A-10 regular season and tournament titles, three-straight NCAA Tournament appearances, and two 30-win seasons ... The 10 finalists were announced this week.
In Memoriam: Kacie Hausfeld
A number 14 patch is adorned on the Flyers’ jerseys this season in memoriam of late teammate Kacie Hausfeld who tragically passed away last spring in a plane crash with her father, Tom ... Hausfeld, known her leadership and influential personality, would have been a senior ... For three seasons she excelled in the program as a setter, starting in the last two with 7.00 assists per set and 51 aces ... Kacie is survived by her mother Lori and sister Ali.
Academic/APR Success
Dayton volleyball was recognized for the third straight season with the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Team Academic Award ... Finishing the 2009 season No. 25 in the AVCA poll, UD is one of just three nationally-ranked teams to earn the award this season -- joining Oregon and Stanford ... The Flyers reported a 3.37 team GPA in the 2009-10 school year ... UD volleyball also scored a perfect single-year APR score (1000) in 2008-09, which was released in the Spring by the NCAA.
Returning Champs – Predicted Champs
With five starters returning from last season’s Atlantic 10 Championship team UD has been picked to win the A-10 title again in 2010 ... The Flyers were the regular season co-champs with Saint Louis, and the tournament champs after edging SLU in five sets at the Frericks Center ... The Flyers return two all-conference selections Lindsay Fletemier and Becky Novacek, A-10 Tournament MVP Amanda Cowdrey, and All-Rookie Team selection Rachel Krabacher ... Additionally, the Flyers add highly-touted recruit and Nebraska transfer Jessica Yanz to the setter position.
Dayton Selected as NCAA Regional Site in 2010
Dayton will be one of four hosts during the 2010 NCAA Tournament Regionals on Dec. 10-11 at the University of Dayton Arena ... Tickets are now available for purchase by visiting the UD Arena Ticket Office or by phone at 937-229-4433 ... Other Regional sites include Austin (Texas), Seattle (Washington), and University Park (Penn State) ... The National Semifinals and Final will be held at Kansas City’s Sprint Center.
