ST. LOUIS - The 22nd-ranked Dayton volleyball outlasted Saint Louis, 3-2 (21-25, 25-20, 23-25, 25-20, 15-9), in the Atlantic 10 Championship finals to take home the tournament hardware. This is the 11th Championship title the Flyers have won, the most of any team ever in the Atlantic 10.
Dayton extends its winning streak to 19 matches and moves to 30-1 on the season. Saint Louis ends the season with an 18-14 record.
STATS OF THE MATCH
• Junior Jessica Sloan led the Flyer attack with a career-high 23 kills while committing only two errors in 51 attempts for a .412 hitting percentage. She also had six digs and four blocks for the match. Sophomore Lauren Bruns added 16 kills.
• Junior Amber Erhahon tallied 14 kills to one error in 24 attempts for a .542 hitting percentage. She also recorded seven blocks and three digs. Sophomore Kendyll Brown chipped in 11 kills as the fourth Flyer in double-digit kills.
• Junior Jane Emmenecker set 50 assists and sophomore Margo Wolf passed 24 digs for UD.
• Saint Louis was led by Danielle Rygelski with 35 kills to go with 10 digs and Mackenzie Long with 26 digs.
SET-BY-SET
• Set One: Back-to-back kills from Sloan put Dayton up 5-2 to open the first set but Saint Louis rallied to even the frame at eight points apiece. Seven tied scored later, the squads were knotted at 16 when UD briefly took a two-point lead at 18-16. The Flyer lead was three at 20-17 but the Billikens used a 8-1 run to close out the set on top, 25-21.
• Set Two: The first half of the second remained close with neither team able to get in front more than three. Consecutive Billiken kills evened the set at nine-all but it was a three-point Flyer lead at 14-11. The game was tied again at 18-18 but Dayton reached 20 first up two. Leading by one at 20-19, UD closed out the second set with a 5-1 run to win 25-20.
• Set Three: Another close contest start to finish as neither team was letting up in set three. The seventh tie of the set came at 7-7 but a 4-1 SLU run put the Billikens in front, 11-8. Saint Louis was up three again at 16-13 but Dayton put together three-straight points to knot the score at 16-all. Trailing by two, Dayton evened the set again at 20 points apiece and the set was tied three more times before Saint Louis won the frame, 25-23.
• Set Four: Saint Louis started quick in the fourth set, jumping out 4-1 on Dayton. The Flyers answered with six straight to turn the tables, 7-4. The Billikens were within one, 9-8, when the Flyers scored five-consecutive points to push the advantage to six, 14-8. SLU got to within four, 15-11, following a service ace but UD tacked on three more to lead seven, 18-11. A late four-point Billiken rally forced a Flyer timeout at 22-19 but UD scored the final two points of the set to win, 25-20, and force a fifth set.
• Set Five: The Billikens scored the first point but the Flyers got the next two for a 2-1 lead. UD was up two again at 6-4 following a SLU error and the Flyer lead was three at 9-6. A 4-0 run by Dayton made it 13-7 and Saint Louis would not overcome the deficit. The Flyers took the set, 15-9, and the match, 3-2.
ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM
Amber Erhahon, Most Outstanding Player
Kendyll Brown, Dayton
Jane Emmenecker, Dayton
Jessica Sloan, Dayton
Mackenzie Long, Saint Louis
Taylor Paulson, Saint Louis
Danielle Rygelski, Saint Louis
UP NEXT
Dayton earned the Atlantic 10's automatic bid to the 2016 NCAA Tournament. The Flyers will enjoy a short Thanksgiving break before hearing their named called on the NCAA Selection Show Sunday, Nov. 27 at 9 p.m. on ESPNU.
