September 2, 2010

Match Notes

DAYTON, Ohio -- No. 17/20 University of Dayton volleyball continues one of the toughest non-conference schedules in the country at the 2010 Diet Coke Classic this weekend, hosted by the University of Minnesota. The Flyers will face two ranked teams in No. 8 Minnesota and No. 22 Northern Iowa, and Baylor which received votes in this week’s AVCA Top-25.

Coverage from Minneapolis, Minn., can be heard through DaytonFlyers.com with Michael Ivcic calling the action.

Diet Coke Classic Information
Location: Minneapolis, Minn.
Arena: The Sports Pavilion (5,700)

Friday, September 3
Northern Iowa vs. Dayton, 6:30 p.m. ET
Baylor at Minnesota, 9 p.m. ET

Saturday, September 4
Northern Iowa at Minnesota, 12 p.m. ET
Dayton vs. Baylor, 2:30 p.m. ET
Northern Iowa vs. Baylor, 6:30 p.m. ET
Dayton at Minnesota, 9:00 p.m. ET

RECAPPING THE DAYTON FLYER CLASSIC
Dayton swept the field at last weekend’s Dayton Flyer Classic, defeating Arizona State, Pittsburgh, and Virginia Commonwealth ... UD recorded a .302 hitting percentage and held opponents to a .067 rate. Similar trends were common throughout the weekend in blocks (32.5-to-11.0), service aces (15-to-7), kills (127-to-86) ... Reigning All-America middle Lindsay Fletemier totaled 18 blocks through three matches to continue a string of 52 straight matches with at least one block ... Senior setter Jessica Yanz – a transfer from Nebraska – notched a career-high of 42 assists against Arizona State on Saturday.

ABOUT NORTHERN IOWA
Head Coach Bobbi Peterson (259-73) has been at Northern Iowa since her playing days and has continued to build the Panther volleyball program into one of the most respected in the country ... UNI enters the weekend ranked No. 22 in the AVCA Poll after maintaining a spotless record against Central Michigan, Western Kentucky, and Purdue at the Mortar Board Premier ... Setter Bre Payton was named Mortar Board MVP and MVC Player of the Week after registering a triple-double (14 kills, 41 assists, 12 digs) against Purdue, her eighth career, and totaling 30 kills on a .407 percentage  ... Payton and DS Ellie Blankenship are UNI’s top returners after earning Honorable Mention AVCA All-America last season.

ABOUT BAYLOR
Baylor advanced to the round of 16 in the NCAA Tournament in 2009 and finished the season No. 20 in the AVCA Poll ... Since being upset by Southern Methodist last weekend at the season-opening Holiday Inn & Suites Baylor Classic, the Bears have swept Butler and UTSA in the last two matches ... Jim Barnes leads the Bears and is fresh off his 100th victory at BU last season in the NCAA Tournament ... Ashlie Christenson paces BU with 3.27 kills per set.

About Minnesota
Last season, Minnesota advanced to the NCAA National Semifinals after hosting a Regional in The Sports Pavilion ... The Golden Gophers have been to 11 straight NCAA Tournaments under head coach Mike Hebert ... The UM offense runs through a pair of young outside hitters Ashley Wittman (Freshman) and Tabitha Love (Sophomore) with 4.22 and 4.56 kills per set, respectively ... Last weekend UM swept all three opponents at the Golden Gopher Invite, also hosted at the Sports Pavilion.

USA VOLLEYBALL A2 CONNECTION
UD middle Lindsay Fletemier spent part of the last two summers playing with the USA Volleyball A2 Teams ... This weekend’s tournament in Minnesota features a handful of players that played by her side on the A2 teams ... Ashlie Christenson of Baylor and Fletemier played together in 2009 in Minneapolis, earning 3rd place in the Gold Division at the USA Open Championships ... UNI libero Ellie Blankenship and Fletemier played on separate A2 teams in 2010, as Fletemier’s Blue Team won the Gold Metal Bracket at the USA Open Championships in Tempe, Ariz.

SHEFFIELD APPROACHING 200 CAREER WINS
UD head coach Kelly Sheffield began the season with 193 wins and is quickly approaching the 200th career win milestone ... Sheffield became the quickest UD coach to reach 50 wins in the modern scheduling format, going 51-17 in his first two seasons at Dayton ... Sheffield spent seven years at Albany, compiling 142 wins and two NCAA Tournament appearances.

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.

CHARLOTTE MATCH WILL BE HELD AT UD ARENA
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.

IN MEMORIAM: KACIE HAUSFELD
A number 14 patch is adorned on the Flyers’ jerseys this season in memoriam of a fallen 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 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.

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 ... Other sites include Austin, Texas (Texas), Seattle, Wash. (Washington), and University Park, Pa. (Penn State).

Noting a tradition of success
-Six NCAA Tournament appearances in the last seven years
-Two 30-win seasons in the last three years
-Seven Atlantic 10 regular season titles
-Five Atlantic 10 tournament titles
-Finished 2009 ranked No. 25
-Ranked for the first time entering in the season at No. 21