NCAA Championship, First Round
Ohio State vs. Lipscomb – Friday, Dec. 3 – Dayton, Ohio – Frericks Center – 6 p.m. ET
Live Coverage: Stats, Video (DaytonFlyers.com)
No. 14 seeded Dayton vs. Butler – Friday, Dec. 3 – Dayton, Ohio – Frericks Center – 8 p.m. ET
Live Coverage: Stats, Video (DaytonFlyers.com)
NCAA Championship, Second Round
Ohio State/Lipscomb vs. Dayton/Butler – Saturday, Dec. 4 – Dayton, Ohio – Frericks Center – 5:30 p.m. ET
Live Coverage: Stats, Video (DaytonFlyers.com)
Noting the Flyers (27-3, 15-0 Atlantic 10)
Dayton appears in its fourth consecutive NCAA Championship, while hosting at the Frericks Center in three of the last four years ... The Flyers are on a 22 match winning streak and capped off the program’s first undefeated Atlantic 10 season as back-to-back Regular Season and Tournament Champions ... UD has been ranked for 18 consecutive weeks in the AVCA Top-25 and is the only seed in the tournament from a one-bid conference ... The same four Flyers were named A-10 First Team All-Conference and to the All-Tournament Team, including two-time Player of the Year Lindsay Fletemier, Setter of the Year and tourney MVP Jessica Yanz, Student-Athlete of the Year Becky Novacek, and Amanda Cowdrey ... Third-year Head Coach Kelly Sheffield earned A-10 Co-Coach of the Year honors for the first time ... UD is tied for the fourth-longest winning streak in the country at 22 matches ... Fletemier set a Dayton record for single-season block-assists this season with 146 and is 14 away from setting the UD career record ... Dayton leads the A-10 in every category except service aces – hitting percentage, opponent hitting percentage, kills per set, assists per set, blocks per set and digs per set ... Nationally, the Flyers rank fifth in blocks per set, and 22nd in digs per set.
About Butler (21-9, 13-3 Horizon League)
Butler makes its first NCAA Tournament appearance since 1997, and second overall, after winning the Horizon League Tournament as the No. 2 seed ... The Bulldogs have won 12 of the last 14 matches heading into the postseason ... BU will be the second consecutive Horizon League opponent that Dayton has faced in the First Round of the NCAAs after defeating Milwaukee last season in Champaign, Ill. ... Senior outside hitter Jessica Wolfe is one of the top offensive threats in the country, ranking 26th in kills per set (4.13) ... The 2009 AVCA Honorable Mention All-American accounts for nearly 1/3 of Butler’s total kills with 475 individually out of 1,509 as a team ... Wolfe was named Horizon League Tournament MVP this season ...Libero Katie Daprile broke a school and conference record for career digs this season as she is less than 10 digs away from 2,000 ... Head Coach Sharon Clark is in her 11th season at Butler and holds a 177-154 record ... Butler joins the Flyers in the top 25 nationally in digs per set, ranked 24th with 17.23.
The Series: Butler leads, 18-9.
About Ohio State (22-11, 10-10 Big Ten)
Ohio State is one of eight NCAA Tournament teams from the Big Ten this season after earning the program’s 46th NCAA bid ... Head Coach Geoff Carlston has led the Buckeyes to two appearances in the postseason in three season at Ohio State ... Carlston came from Ohio University where he held a 144-22 record and guided the Bobcats to five appearances in the NCAA Tournament, earning MAC Coach of the Year four times ... The Buckeyes rank 13th nationally in blocks per set (2.72) ... All-Big Ten outside hitter Katie Dull leads the team in kills per set (3.50) and points per set (4.11) ... All-Big Ten honorable mention middle Kelli Barhorst has a team-best .312 hitting percentage ... Sophomore Emily Danks is one of the best servers in the country, ranking third in aces per set (0.60) ... The Buckeyes won 12 of its first 13 matches to peak in the AVCA Top-25 at No. 25, and defeated three ranked teams this season [No. 25 Northwestern (11/20), No. 22 Northwestern (10/22), and No. 19 Minnesota (10/16)] ... OSU finished an even 10-10 in conference for a sixth-place finish ... The last time Dayton and Ohio State met was in the 2004 NCAA Tournament in Columbus, as UD lost in three sets ... Last season OSU hosted the NCAA Opening Rounds and was knocked out by California in the Second Round.
The Series: Ohio State leads, 10-9.
About Lipscomb (24-6, 10-0 Atlantic Sun)
Led by Head Coach Brandon Rosenthal, Lipscomb enters its second consecutive tournament appearance without having a lost a conference match in two years ... The Lady Bisons rank fourth in the nation in home winning streaks, just ahead of Dayton, with 27 consecutive wins at Allen Arena in Nashville (Dayton ranks fifth with 24 consecutive at home) ... Two-time Atlantic Sun Player of the Year Alex Kelly is one of few middle blockers in the nation who lead their team in both blocks per set (0.83) and digs per set (3.55) ... 2010 A-Sun Player of the Year, setter Jake Pease averages 11.54 assists per set and has guided Lipscomb to a team .259 hitting percentage ... Last season Lipscomb played at Columbus, Ohio in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, losing to Cal in three sets ... The only time Dayton and Lipscomb have met was in the First Round of the NCAAs in 2007 as 15th-seeded Dayton swept LU at the Frericks Center.
The Series: Dayton leads, 1-0.
2010 NCAA Volleyball Regional Tickets Available
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 ... The Flyers hosted Charlotte in UD Arena on Oct. 23 as a precursor to the Regional – the NCAA requires the host school to play at least one home match at the Regional site during the regular season ... Dayton volleyball has hosted the First and Second Rounds at the Frericks Center in three of the last four years.
Dayton in the NCAA Tournament
It is Dayton’s fourth consecutive appearance, and seventh overall, in the NCAA Tournament ... The Flyers have hosted the First and Second Rounds of the tournament in three of the last four seasons at the Frericks Center ... UD has advanced to the Second Round three times ... Last season UD lost at Illinois in the Second Round ... It is the second time the Flyers have been seeded in the Tournament, holding a No. 15 seed in 2007 and a No. 14 seed this season ... UD will host a Regional for the first time in program history, making it possible for the Flyers never give up home court advantage until the final four in Kansas City on Dec. 16 & 18.
Packin’ the House
Dayton volleyball ranks 30th in national attendance this season, averaging 1,205 fans per home contest ... The highest crowd at the Frericks Center this season was 1,802 against Fordham on Oct. 2 ... The Flyers have a home winning streak of 24 matches after completing back-to-back undefeated home regular seasons.
Recapping the Atlantic 10 Tournament
Dayton won its sixth A-10 Tournament title after defeating Duquesne 3-1 in the semifinals and sweeping Xavier in the nationally televised finals of the A-10 Championship ... Senior setter Jessica Yanz was given Most Outstanding Performer honors, joining Lindsay Fletemier, Amanda Cowdrey and Becky Novacek on the All-Tournament team ... The Flyers have won back-to-back Atlantic 10 Tournament titles for a total of six (2003, 2004, 2005, 2007, 2009, 2010) ... In the past eight years, Dayton or Saint Louis have won the title – Dayton six times, Saint Louis twice ... Since 2003, the Flyers have gone 14-2 in the tournament and boast a 15-8 all-time record in the tournament.
Flyers Dominate All-Conference Selections
Four UD players were named Atlantic 10 First Team All-Conference, including Player of the Year Lindsay Fletemier, Setter of the Year Jessica Yanz, Student-Athlete of the Year Becky Novacek and Amanda Cowdrey ... Head Coach Kelly Sheffield earned his first A-10 Co-Coach of the Year honor after guiding the Flyers to an undefeated conference season to win the program’s eighth Atlantic 10 regular season title ... Junior Yvonne Marten joined Novacek on the Academic All-Conference Team to make Dayton the only team with two Academic All-Conference selections this season ... Dayton has had multiple First Team All-Conference selections in 14 of the 16 seasons as a member of the Atlantic 10 Conference ... The class of four Dayton first-teamers this season ties a program record and is the most since 2000.
Dayton Ranked For 18 Consecutive Weeks
Dayton is ranked No. 13 in this week’s AVCA Top-25 Coaches Poll, the 18th consecutive week the Flyers have been ranked, dating back to a No. 24 ranking on Nov. 23, 2009 ... Last week UD tied the highest the program has been ranked by the AVCA Coaches Poll at No. 12 – also during the week of Oct. 15, 2007 ... If Dayton finishes the season ranked in the top 25 it will be the first time in program history that UD has remained in the polls for the entire the season ... Dayton tied its highest ranking in the this season’s NCAA RPI this week with a No. 9 ranking (also during the week of Nov. 1) ... The Flyers have played four teams in the RPI top seven, including a win over fourth-ranked Northern Iowa ... The Flyers are No. 12 in the RichKern.com top 30 and No. 13 Volleyball Magazine’s top 20.
Fletemier Moving Up
Senior and two-time All-American Lindsay Fletemier is approaching a handful of career records at Dayton ... Fletemier is currently second on the career block-assists list with 482 ... Last week the Garden City, Mich., native set a single-season Dayton record for block-assists with 146 ... Fletemier entered the year fourth on the all-time block-assist list with 336 and has passed Sheila Kreim (1994-97) and Katie Ferriell (1998-01) this season ... Fletemier holds the second-best career hitting percentage with an improved .372 career rate through 30 matches this season ... Faye Barhorst (2003-06) holds the hitting percentage career record at .384 ... Fletemier also broke into UD’s career kills list this season, currently in fourth with 1,503 ... The next number to catch on the kills list is Cathy Wojciechowski’s (1990-93) at 1,645.
Fletemier ranks third in NCAA Division I in blocks per set (1.58) and 13th in hitting percentage (.396) ... Last season Fletemier finished the season ranked 35th in the nation in blocks per set (1.25) and 11th in hitting percentage (.389), gaining Third Team AVCA All-America honors ... Fletemier has had at least one block in 78 consecutive matches played.
Regular Season Champs
With an undefeated regular season, the Flyers earned the eighth Atlantic 10 regular season title since joining the league in 1995 and the sixth title in the last seven years ... It is just the second time since 1997 that an A-10 team has gone undefeated in conference play (Saint Louis, 2008) ... Last season UD shared the crown with Saint Louis, both at 14-1 in the A-10 ... The A-10 was split into divisions from 2005-08 (East-West) as UD took home three of the four West Division titles during that period ... Dayton was picked to win the conference in the 2010 A-10 Preseason Coaches’ Poll.
In the past seven years, Dayton holds a 81-11 Atlantic 10 record without losing more than two conference matches in a season ... Including 2010 (the last eight years), UD has won six regular season crowns, six tournament titles, and made seven trips to the NCAA Tournament
During the Winning Streak...
Dayton is currently on a 22-match winning streak – the fourth-longest in the nation tied with No. 1 Florida ... During the streak, the Flyers have held opponents to a .100 hitting percentage while recording a .283 hitting percentage of its own ... 17 of the 22 matches have been decided in three sets; all seven wins at home during the streak have been sweeps ... Lindsay Fletemier is UD’s out-right leader in numbers with 278.0 points, 1.51 blocks per set, .440 hitting percentage with 222 kills and just 26 attacking errors during the streak ... UD is averaging 3.09 blocks per set, compared to opponents’ 1.26 blocks per set ... UD has 104 service aces, averaging 1.41 aces per set ... Four players are hitting over .300 and four players have 170 kills or more in 22 matches.
UD also holds the fifth-longest home winning streak in the nation with 24 consecutive wins at the Frericks Center or UD Arena ... Dayton finished with back-to-back undefeated home seasons at 14-0 at 2009 and 10-0 in 2010... The last home loss was on Nov. 15, 2008 vs. No. 20 Saint Louis.
Defense Wins Championships
Dayton is one of two teams in the country to rank in the top 25 in blocks and digs (per set) ... Among 327 NCAA Division I volleyball programs, the Flyers rank fifth in blocks per set (2.99) and 22nd in digs per set (17.39) ... Wichita State is the other team, ranking 16th in both blocks and digs ... Only two teams have finished a season in the top 15 nationally in both blocks and digs in the past 10 years ... UD has two players who average 1.00 or more blocks per set and three players averaging 3.00 or more digs per set ... Senior middles Lindsay Fletemier (1.58 b/s) and Becky Novacek (1.21 b/s) rank first and second in the A-10 in blocks per set, respectively ... Sophomore libero Paige Vargas (4.03 d/s) and senior outside hitter Amanda Cowdrey (3.96 d/s) are the only teammates in the A-10 to rank in the top six in digs per set ... UD leads the conference in opponent hitting percentage (.121) and has held foes to a hitting percentage under .100 in 13 matches.
Accurate Acers
Freshman Allyson Morey led the Atlantic 10 in aces per set (0.39) during conference play (10th overall) going into the weekend ... Morey, who made her first career start at Charlotte (11/7), has 29 aces and just 16 service errors ... Senior Amanda Cowdrey averages 0.29 aces per set with 28 aces and 19 service errors ... As a team the Flyers hold the second-best service aces-to-errors ratio in the conference with total of 124 aces and 147 errors ... Duquesne (122:114) has the only positive ratio in the A-10.
Legacy of Excellence
Dayton honored a group of six graduating seniors and the late Kacie Hausfeld on Senior Day – the last regular season home match of the season ... In the last four years Dayton has gone 110-22 to record the most wins a four-year period in program history during the modern scheduling format ... This senior class can account for three A-10 Regular Season titles, four NCAA Tournament appearances, three A-10 tournament titles and one at-large bid ... All seven have had a different path to Senior Day, hailing from five states and two countries ... Hausfeld (Springboro, Ohio) was in the 2007 recruiting class with Rachel Broerman (Colorado Springs, Colo.), Tiffany Gaerke (Fort Recovery, Ohio) and Becky Novacek (Aliquippa, Pa.) ... Lindsay Fletemier (Garden City, Mich.) is spending her fifth year with the program after redshirting her first year ... Amanda Cowdrey (Brampton, Ontario) transferred from Albany before the 2009 season and Jessica Yanz (Bolingbrook, Ill.) transferred from Nebraska in the summer of 2010.
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 for 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, who played volleyball at Duke ... Both represented the would-be senior at Senior Day last Sunday.
Academic Success
Senior Becky Novacek was named Atlantic 10 Student-Athlete of the Year and joined junior Yvonne Marten on the A-10 Academic All-Conference Team this season ... Novacek was also named to the CoSIDA Academic All-America All-District IV Second Team, while Marten was named Third Team All-District on Nov. 4 ... Novacek holds a 3.9 GPA as a business major and Marten is a pre-medicine emphasis with a 3.8 GPA ...The pair are the first UD players to be named on any Academic All-District IV team since 2004 ... District IV includes all universities in the states of Michigan, Ohio, Kentucky, Tennessee, and Alabama.
The newest NCAA Graduate Success Rate (GSR) numbers were released on Oct. 26 and Dayton volleyball reported a perfect score of 100 percent of all student-athletes who started playing volleyball for UD in 2003 having graduated ... Flyer volleyball was also recognized for the third straight season with the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Team Academic Award ... Finishing the season No. 25 in the AVCA poll, UD is one of just three nationally-ranked teams to earn the award this season (Oregon, 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.
Volleyball Adds Two For The 2011 Roster
High school seniors Isolde Hannan and Kaitlyn Krause both signed a National Letter of Intent this week to officially commit to the Flyers for the 2011-12 season and beyond ... Both were named to the 2011 PrepVolleyball.com Senior Aces “150” and the 2011 AVCA Under Armour All-America Watch List ... Hannan is a six-foot middle hitter from Dublin, Ohio (Dublin Coffman HS) with elite jumping ability ... Krause is an athletic 5-foot-10 setter from Farmington Hills, Mich., who has started since her freshman year for North Farmington HS.
"These are both players that have had great coaching and come from really good families,” Head Coach Kelly Sheffield said. “These are both extremely intelligent people – Ivy League type of kids. They are going to fit in great here and both have the drive to help take this program to the next level."
Dayton Atlantic 10 Players of the Week
Nov. 16 – Offensive Player of the Week
Recorded a.697 hitting percentage with 23 kills and no attacking errors as UD capped off an undefeated 15-0 conference season. Eight kills on 11 swings to sweep for on the road Fordham, 15 kills on a .682 hitting percentage in another three-set win over Saint Louis. Also registered seven blocks to help hold weekend opponents to a .132 hitting percentage. The fourth consecutive week that Dayton has featured the A-10 Offensive Player of the Week. 16th career Atlantic 10 weekly award in Fletemier’s career and fifth of the season.
Nov. 2 – Offensive Player of the Week
Totaled 24 kills on a .385 hitting percentage with eight blocks in wins over second-place Xavier and George Washington to earn her 15th career Atlantic 10 weekly award and third offensive ... Opened the weekend by leading UD to a three-set win over Xavier at home with 12 kills on a .345 hitting percentage ... With 12 kills on 23 swings (.435 hitting percentage) at George Washington on Sunday Fletemier recorded double-digit kills for the fifth consecutive match – the longest streak of any Flyer this season.
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.
Rachael Krabacher, Sophomore, OH
Nov. 9, 2010 –Offensive Player of the Week
Krabacher became the third different Flyer in three weeks to be named Offensive Player of the Week after recording a .486 hitting percentage with 20 kills to help UD clinch the 2010 Atlantic 10 regular season title ... The Cincinnati, Ohio native had one of the most accurate weekends of her career, starting off with eight kills on 11 attempts without an attacking error for a .727 hitting percentage against La Salle ... She followed with 12 kills on a .385 hitting percentage against Charlotte, adding two blocks and nine digs to lead the team with 15.0 points ... It was the first Atlantic 10 weekly award for Krabacher since earning Rookie of the Week three times last season.
Oct. 26 – Offensive Player of the Week
Led UD to a combined .336 hitting percentage with 75 assists in a pair of 3-0 victories over George Washington and Charlotte ... Outgained its opponents in kills 100-60 ... Tied a three-set season-high of 40 assists against George Washington, while propelling UD to a team season-best .427 hitting percentage ... Added four kills (.667 attack percentage) and eight digs versus the Colonials ... Closed out the weekend with her 11th double-double of the season with 35 assists and 11 digs in three sets against Charlotte, while registering four blocks.
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.
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 206-99 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.
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.
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.
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.
