WASHINGTON, D.C. – With its 3-2 (25-23, 19-25, 25-17, 21-25, 15-9) win over fourth-seeded George Washington Saturday evening, the Dayton volleyball team advances the to finals of the 2015 Atlantic 10 Volleyball Championship. Top-seeded Dayton will play the winner of the nightcap, No. 2 Saint Louis vs. No. 3 Rhode Island at 2:30 p.m. Sunday. The three-day championship is being hosted by George Washington at the Charles E. Smith Center. With the victory, Dayton extends its nation's-longest win streak to 22 matches and is now 24-5 on the season. George Washington falls to 21-11.
STATS OF THE MATCH• Senior
Alaina Turner led three Flyers in double-digit kills with a match-high 18 to go with 13 digs for the team's only double-double. Senior
Jill Loiars added 15 kills to go with five blocks,
• Sophomore
Amber Erhahon was the third with 10 kills and sophomore
Jane Emmenecker set all but two of the team's assists in the match (54) while also recording four kills, three digs and two blocks.
• Sophomore
Jessica Sloan led Dayton with a career-high 18 digs and senior
Janna Krafka passed 16 digs for the Flyers. At the net, senior
Angel Agu stuffed eight blocks for the match.
• George Washington was led by Aaliya Davidson with 14 kills and Maddy Doyle with 18 digs.
• For the match, Dayton out-hit George Washington .164 to .112 while the Flyers recorded 62 kills to the Colonials' 53.
SET-BY-SET• Set One: George Washington took an early two-point lead, 8-6, in the first set but Dayton responded by scoring six straight to go up four, 12-8. The Flyer lead was six at 16-10 but the Colonials rallied to even the frame at 19-all. GW briefly held a 21-20 advantage and held set point twice before hitting the ball long to give UD the game, 25-23.
• Set Two: Dayton scored the first point of the second set but George Washington took over from there, jumping out to a 10-3 lead. The Flyers cut the advantage to five, 14-9, and then were within three, 15-12, when the Colonials called timeout. Dayton got to within one, 15-14, but George Washington would not relinquish its advantage. GW went on to even the match at 1-1 with a 25-19 win in the second set.
• Set Three: The Flyers doubled up the Colonials, 8-4, in the third frame and the Dayton advantage was six, 13-7, following a Colonial attacking error. A kill from Loiars gave UD 20 and back-to-back Flyer terminations ended the set with Dayton ahead, 25-17.
• Set Four: The score was 5-3 in favor of Dayton early in set four but a 5-0 George Washington run turned the tables to put the Colonials ahead, 8-5. A kill from Turner cut the lead to two, 12-10, but GW was out in front six, 20-14, after a UD service error. Dayton would cut it to three, 23-30, but George Washington claimed the set, 25-21, to force the fifth set.
• Set Five: UD stormed out to an 8-1 margin in the deciding set and remained in control the entire time. A kill from Sloan set up match point at 14-8 and a Colonial hit the ball out to end the set, 15-9, and the match with Dayton on top, 3-2.
UP NEXT• Dayton will play for the its sixth A-10 Championship title in the last seven seasons on Sunday. First serve for the title match is set for 2:30 p.m. at the Smith Center and the game will be televised by American Sports Network.
