DAYTON, Ohio - University of Dayton volleyball will head to Carbondale, Illinois, for the Comfort Inn Saluki Invitational Sept. 4-5. Dayton will face the host Southern Illinois Salukis on Friday at 8 p.m. ET in its only match of the day. UD will square off against the UT Martin Skyhawks on Saturday at 11 a.m. ET followed by the Western Kentucky Lady Toppers at 5:30 p.m. ET. All three matches will be played at Southern Illinois SIU Arena.
About the FieldThe Saluki Invitational is the second weekend of the season for all four teams. Southern Illinois is coming off a 2-1 weekend at Central Florida's Holiday Inn Express Invitational. The Salukis picked up wins over Delaware and Northern Colorado and are led by Andrea Estrada with 3.43 kills/set. UT Martin was in Atlanta last weekend at Georgia Tech's Courtyard by Marriott Atlanta Midtown Invitational and picked up its first win of the season against The Citadel. The Skyhawks are led by Lael Ceriani 2.57 kills/set. In the Saluki Invitational finalé, Dayton will face Western Kentucky, a team coming off a perfect 3-0 weekend at Wisconsin's hotelRED Invitational. The Lady Toppers defeated the fifth-ranked Badgers, 3-1, to open the season. WKU is led by Noelle Langenkamp with 3.00 kills/set.
Series Stuff• Friday's match up against Southern Illinois will be the fifth between the Salukis and Flyers, dating back to November of 1972. The series is even at 2-2 but Dayton has taken the last two meetings in straight sets.
• UT Martin and Dayton will be facing off for the second time and the Flyers hold the 1-0 advantage in the series. The only meeting between the two programs was in 1981 as Dayton claimed the 2-0 win.
• Dayton's weekend finalé against Western Kentucky will be the seventh time the Flyers and Lady Toppers have squared off. WKU holds the 4-2 advantage over UD and Saturday's match up will be the first time the two teams have met since September of 2013.
Flyer Facts•
Tim Horsmon is in his seventh season overall, and second since 2007, as head coach of the Flyers in 2015. His record at Dayton is 158-52 and his career win-loss mark sits at 334-216 in 17 seasons as a head coach.
• Dayton returns the 2014 Atlantic 10 Player of the Year in senior
Alaina Turner, the A-10 Setter of the Year in sophomore
Jane Emmenecker and the A-10 Libero of the Year in senior
Janna Krafka. Turner, a 2014 AVCA Honorable Mention All-American, finished last season ranked fourth in the nation with 65 services aces and sixth nationally with 0.50 aces/set. She also ranked third in total attacks (1,568), 14th in total kills (558) and 16th in points/set (5.09) and attacks/set (11.97). Emmenecker's 1,461 assists is the fifth-most in a season at UD and ranked fifth nationally in 2014.
• At the end of last season, out of 15 statistical categories ranked by the NCAA, Dayton was among the top 50 nationally in 12 of them. The Flyers finished 2014 ranked seventh in the nation with 199 service aces.
• The Flyers finished the 2014 season with a 30-6 overall record and with a 13-1 Atlantic 10, finishing in first place in regular-season league play. 2014 was the program's third 30-win season of the modern-DI era.
• Dayton has won the Atlantic 10 Regular Season title 11 times (2014, 2012, 2011, 2010, 2009, 2007, 2006, 2005, 2004, 2001, 1998). The Flyers have won the A-10 Championship title a league-record nine times (2014, 2012, 2011, 2010, 2009, 2007, 2005, 2004, 2003) and made their 10th NCAA appearance in program history in 2014.
• Over the last six seasons (2009-2014), the Flyers have recorded a 78-9 mark in Atlantic 10 Conference play, including a perfect 14-0 mark in 2012 and a 15-0 record in 2010. UD suffered only one conference loss in 2014, 2011 and 2009.
UD Picked First in 2015 A-10 Preseason PollDayton has been chosen to finish in first place in the Atlantic 10 for 2015. The Flyers, winners of five of the last six A-10 titles, tallied 88 points in voting among the league's head coaches (including eight of 10 first-place votes). George Washington was selected to finish second.
13th to 1,000With two wins at the 2014 Bowling Green Hampton Inn Invitational, Dayton surpassed the 1,000-win mark as a program and is just the 13th NCAA DI team to attain that level of success. The Flyers currently rank 13th all-time in the Division I record book with an overall program tally of 1,028-557 (.649) over 44 seasons (1970).
Follow the Flyers on Social MediaFans can follow the official UD Volleyball social media outlets by liking Facebook.com/udaytonvb, on Twitter by following this handle: @DaytonVB and udaytonvb on Instagram. Hashtags for Flyer Volleyball include UDVB and GoFlyers.
Just Flyers PleaseWhen referring to the University of Dayton volleyball team (or any other Dayton athletic team), we ask that you refer to us simply as "Flyers." Not "Lady Flyers". Thanks for your cooperation.
2014 Atlantic 10 Coach, Player, Libero and Setter of the Year ...The Flyers claimed four of the five yearly awards given out by the Atlantic 10 as announced by the league office on Nov. 20:
Tim Horsmon - Coach of the Year,
Alaina Turner - Player of the Year,
Janna Krafka - Libero of the Year and
Jane Emmenecker - Setter of the Year. This is the first end-of-the-year award for each student-athlete and the second time coach Horsmon (2005) has been recognized.
Up NextDayton will open the home portion of its 2015 schedule by hosting the Dayton Invitational Sept. 11-12 at the newly remodeled Frericks Center. Dayton will play host to six matches featuring Baylor, Cleveland State and Eastern Illinois. First serve between Cleveland State and Eastern Illinois on Friday, Sept. 11 is set for 4 p.m. followed by a 7 p.m. match-up between Baylor and Dayton. Admission is free.
