ST. LOUIS - The 22nd-ranked Dayton volleyball team staved off a furious fight from VCU, 3-2 (25-12, 20-25, 22-25, 25-17, 15-10), in the semifinals of the 2016 Atlantic 10 Championship. With the win, Dayton advances to the finals to be played tomorrow.
Dayton extended its winning streak to 18 matches and improved to 29-1 on the season. VCU ends 2016 with a 19-14 overall record.
STATS OF THE MATCH
• Junior Jessica Sloan led all attackers with a match-high 15 kills to go with 10 digs for the double-double while also recording four blocks.
• Junior Jane Emmenecker also recorded a double-double with a match-high 52 assists to go with 11 digs. Also with double-digit digs was sophomore Margo Wolf with a match-high 13.
• Sophomore Kendyll Brown recorded a career-high 14 kills while swinging at .600 for the match and sophomore Lauren Bruns also tallied double-digit kills with 13.
• Junior Amber Erhahon chipped in 11 kills and narrowly missed the double-double with nine blocks.
• VCU was led by Alicia Kandler and Vicky Giommarini with 12 kills each Rebekah Strange with 11 digs.
SET-BY-SET
• Set One: VCU opened the first set with a 6-3 lead but Dayton turned on the jets, rattling off five straight to take an 8-6 advantage. Emmenecker served up an ace to push the lead to five at 14-9 and a 4-0 Flyer run put UD up eight at 18-10. VCU would muster only two more points and UD closed out the frame scoring the final six to win 25-12.
• Set Two: Dayton started strong in the second set jumping out on VCU, 4-1, but the Rams rallied to even the score at seven points apiece. A quick four-point run by VCU gave the Rams an 11-9 advantage and VCU was in front five at 18-13. Dayton pulled to within three, 23-20, but VCU scored the last two points to take the frame, 25-20.
• Set Three: Set three was tied at one, two, three and again at six but VCU broke open a four-point lead at 10-6. The Rams were in front six at 16-10 but the Flyers cut it to three, 19-16, after a 4-1 spurt. Down five at 24-19, Dayton held set point three times but VCU was able to take the set, 25-22.
• Set Four: On the strength of three-consecutive kills, Dayton opened the fourth set in front 5-1 and the Flyers were up five, 8-3, after back-to-back Ram errors. Two kills from K. Brown plus a VCU error set the score at 12-6 in favor of UD and the Flyers got behind a 3-1 run to stretch the advantage to seven, 15-8. It was seven again at 19-12 and 22-15; the Flyers scored the last three points of the set to win 25-17 and send the match into a fifth set.
• Set Five: VCU found itself on the positive end of a 4-2 lead early in the deciding set but UD rattled off five-straight points to go up 7-4. The teams switched sides with Dayton winning, 8-5, and a Bruns-Erhahon block got the Flyers to 10 first up four. VCU continued to battle, pulling within three at 12-9, but UD held on for the 15-10 fifth-set win to take the match, 3-2.
UP NEXT
Dayton will play in the finals of the Atlantic 10 Championship on Sunday, squaring off against host Saint Louis. First serve is set for 2:30 p.m. ET and the match will be televised on American Sports Network (channel 22-2 in Dayton).
