CARBONDALE, Ill. – In its Saluki Invitational finale, the University of Dayton volleyball team blanked No. 20 Western Kentucky, 3-0 (25-23, 25-19, 27-25), Saturday evening at SIU Arena. Dayton improves to 2-4 on the season while Western Kentucky falls to 5-1 overall. Senior
Alaina Turner was named the tournament's MVP and senior
Janna Krafka and sophomore
Amber Erhahon joined her on the All-Tournament Team.
STATS OF THE MATCH• Turner led all attackers with a match-high 10 kills while Erhahon and sophomore
Jessica Sloan each contributed seven.
• Erhahon recorded six blocks (2s-4a), served up an ace and passed three digs to lead the Flyers' defense. Krafka was the match's leading passer with 24 digs.
• Senior
Angel Agu recorded four blocks (1s-3a) and tallied four kills against zero errors to hit at .500 for the match.
• Western Kentucky was led by Alyssa Cavanaugh with 10 kills and Georgia O'Connell with 19 digs.
• Dayton out-hit Western Kentucky, .203 to .142, but the kills were nearly even as UD recorded 42 to WKU's 41.
SET-BY-SET• Set One: Dayton and Western Kentucky started the match neck and neck until the Flyers pulled ahead by seven, 18-11. WKU rallied to even the set at 18-all but UD powered through for the 25-23 win in the first game.
• Set Two: Western Kentucky took the quick 10-3 advantage to open set two but a 6-0 Dayton run pulled the two squads even at 11-11. There were five more ties before Dayton took over at 17-16 and sailed to the 25-19 second-set win.
• Set Three: The Flyers held the 5-2 advantage when the Lady Toppers' coach was cautioned with a yellow card. Despite the delay, Dayton held its composure and powered on. The two squads were tied at 12 and the game remained close throughout the duration. A Flyer double block and a kill from Jendryk evened the game at 20 points apiece and we were tied again at 24-all. It took extra points but freshman
Margo Wolf served up the match-winning ace as UD took the third set, 27-25, and the match, 3-0.
UP NEXT• Next weekend the Flyers will open the home portion of its schedule with the Dayton Invitational. The two-day event will feature Baylor, Cleveland State, Eastern Illinois and host Dayton. All matches will be played at Frericks Center and admission is free.
