UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – With a 3-1 (21-25, 26-24, 25-23, 25-23) win over Villanova Friday night, the University of Dayton volleyball team advanced to its seventh NCAA Tournament Second Round appearance. The Flyers will face the winner of Penn State/Howard Saturday evening at 7:30 in PSU's Rec Hall. Dayton improves to 27-5 and extends its winning streak to 25 matches.
STATS OF THE MATCH• Senior
Alaina Turner led all attackers with 24 kills to go with 11 digs for the double-double. Senior
Jill Loiars had 16 kills and tallied two blocks for the Flyers.
• Sophomore
Jane Emmenecker set a match-high 57 assists and passed a career-high 25 digs for the team's second double-double of the match. Senior
Janna Krafka got under a match-high 26 digs. She is now tied with former Flyer
Adrienne Green with 2,070 career digs, most in program history.
• Also with double-digit kills was senior
Jenna Jendryk (13) and sophomore
Amber Erhahon (11). Erhahon tallied a team-high five blocks as well.
• Villanova was led by Allie Loitz with 17 kills and Allison Fitzgerald with 16 digs.
• Dayton narrowly out-hit Villanova, .266 to .237, and the Flyers recorded 69 kills to the Wildcats' 54.
SET-BY-SET• Set One: Points were traded through a 4-4 tie to open the first set and Villanova then used a 3-0 spurt to take a 7-4 lead. Dayton pulled to within one, 9-8, but the Nova lead was three again at 11-8. A Wildcat ball handling error sandwiched between two Flyer kills evened the set at 11-all and a kill from senior
Jill Loiars gave UD a one-point advantage at 17-26. Villanova answered with a 3-0 run and the Wildcats were up, 19-17. Nova was up three, 23-20, reached set point at 24-21 before a Dayton attacking error ended the set with the Wildcats ahead, 25-21.
• Set Two: Dayton was able to jump out to a quick 4-1 lead in the second set and Turner laid down a kill to put the Flyers up 7-3. UD was up three again, 11-8, and then four at 14-10 on a kill from Erhahon. A 6-1 Wildcat run turned the tables and put Nova ahead, 18-16, but the set would even up at 23 after a kill from Loiars. Dayton held set point at 25-24 and Turner terminated a kill for the second-set win, 26-24.
• Set Three: Back-to-back Flyer kills set the score at 5-2 in favor of Dayton but Villanova rallied to tie the frame at five points apiece. Nova pulled ahead one, 7-6, on a UD attacking error and the Wildcats were ahead two, 11-9, after a service ace. Villanova pulled ahead four, 16-12, but Dayton pulled even at 17-17, and then held a two-point advantage at 22-20. A Loiars kill set up game point at 24-22 and her next kill sealed the win, 25-23.
• Set Four: Villanova rattled off three straight points to open the fourth set and the Wildcats were ahead 8-3 when Dayton signaled for timeout. The Flyers put together a 4-0 spurt to pull within one, 10-9, and UD took the lead at 12-11. A kill from Loiars pushed the Dayton advantage to four, 18-14, but Villanova would not go away, tying the frame at 20-20. Three ties later it was 23-23 but Loiars and Turner combined for consecutive kills as Dayton took the set, 25-23, and the match, 3-1.
UP NEXT• Dayton will play the winner of Penn State/Howard Saturday night at 7:30 p.m. at PSU's Rec Hall.
