Box Score | Box Score (PDF)

WASHINGTON, D.C. - It took extra points in the fourth set but University of Dayton volleyball defeated Saint Louis, 3-1 (25-15, 20-25, 25-15, 27-25), in its first-round match of the 2013 Atlantic 10 Volleyball Championship. Sophomore Alaina Turner led the Flyers with 16 kills, narrowly missing the double-double with nine digs.

With the win, Dayton improves to 15-12 overall while Saint Louis ends the season with a 13-17 overall mark. The Flyers advance to the semifinal round of the tournament and will face Duquesne on Saturday.

Also for the Fyers, sophomore Jill Loiars had 15 kills and hit for a .375 clip for the match. Sophomore Jenna Jendryk set a match-high 42 assists to go with six digs and four blocks senior Megan Campbell was the third Flyer with double-digit kills at 12 to go with six blocks. Sophomore Janna Krafka recorded her fifth 20-plus dig match of the season with 25.

Dayton jumped out to the 5-2 advantage over Saint Louis after a double block from Loiars and Campbell but the Billikens pulled to within one at 5-4. The UD lead was four, 9-5, after a 3-0 Flyer run was capped by a kill from Loiars but a Billiken service ace cut the advantage back to one again, 10-9. Four straight points from UD, topped off by a Turner-Campbell block, set the score in favor of Dayton at 13-9 and Saint Louis called for the timeout.

Out of the break, Turner found the back-left corner of the court and then the Billikens were called for being out of rotation, must to the chagrin of Saint Louis head coach Kent Miller, to give the Flyers the 16-9 lead. The Flyer advantage stretched to nine, 21-12, and the Billikens called for timeout again. Dayton reached set point at 24-15 and a Saint Louis' swing went long to give UD the first-set win.

The tables turned in the early going of the second set as Saint Louis held the 4-1 lead and then went up five at 8-3, forcing Dayton into the timeout. A 4-0 SLU run stretched the Billiken lead to nine, 15-6, but a service error earned UD sideout. The serve was short-lived and Saint Louis was able to push the advantage back out to 10, 18-8.

A dump attack from Saint Louis again gave SLU a 10-point advantage, 20-10, but Dayton used a kill from Loiars, a double-block from Hannan and Turner and a Hannan kill to cut the lead to seven, 21-14. The Billikens held a seven-point advantage at set point but the Flyers held them off three times before SLU signaled for a timeout. Saint Louis' Danielle Rygelski recorded a kill for the final point of the set to give the Billikens the 25-20 win in the second set, evening the match at 1-1.

The Flyers opened set three with a 4-0 run that was topped off by a kill from Campbell and Turner's solo block gave UD the 5-1 lead. Hannan and Jendryk combined for a block to give Dayton a 9-3 lead and the advantage was seven after Brown laid down a kill to set the score at 13-6. A kill from Turner gave UD an eight-point advantage, 18-10, but SLU got sideout on a Flyer ball-handling error.

Hannan scored the Flyers' 20th point with a kill but the Billikens earned the serve back on the next play. Back-to-back kills from Turner closed out the set for the Flyers as Dayton claimed the 25-15 win to go up, 2-1, in the match,

The fourth set again started off in favor of the Billikens as Saint Louis rattled off five straight points to open the frame. It was a 7-1 SLU lead when UD went on a 5-1 spurt to cut into the Billiken advantage, 8-6. The Flyers were only able to score one of the next seven points as the Billikens stretched their lead to 14-7 and UD called for a timeout. Saint Louis was up by seven again at 18-11 but a Billiken attack error, a Turner kill and a Campbell kill shortened the lead to four.

A 3-0 run by the Flyers cut the advantage back to two, 19-17, and a Jendryk service ace evened the set at 20-all. The two squads traded points but the Flyers reached set point, 24-22, on a strong swing from Turner. SLU saved match-point and was able to tie the set at 24-24 and then went up one, 25-24, for set point. Turner killed a ball off the top of the block to set up match point again, 26-25, and Campbell sealed the fourth-set win with a kill as Dayton took the set, 27-25, and the match 3-1.

The Billikens were led by Rygelski with a match-high 17 points and 10 digs for the match's only double-double. Megan Gilbert tallied 15 kills and Ashley Gagen passed a team-high 17 digs.

The Flyers advance to play top-seeded Duquesne Saturday in the semifinals. First serve is set for 5 p.m. at George Washington's Smith Center.