DAYTON - The top-seeded University of Dayton volleyball team will square off against No. 4 Fordham Friday in the semifinals of the 2020-21 Atlantic 10 Volleyball Championship on Friday. The match is set for 4 p.m. ET at UD's Frericks Center. As the No. 1 seed, Dayton earned the right to host the four-team tournament.

Friday's first semifinal match will feature No. 2 VCU vs. No. 3 Rhode Island at 12 p.m. ET. All three matches will be streamed on ESPN+ and will also be available via live stats. Spectators will be limited to family and friends of the participating teams. There will be no public ticket sales due to COVID-19 restrictions.

SCOUTING FORDHAM
Fordham (5-4, 5-3 A-10) will be making its first appearance in the A-10 Championship since the 2010 season after winning a tiebreaker with La Salle for second place in the East Division. As a member of the West Division, Dayton did not play Fordham during regular-season conference action this year. The Rams are led by first-year middle blocker Isabel Fichtel, who leads the country with 1.93 blocks/set. On offense, freshman Whitley Moody paces the squad with 4.17 kills/set (3rd A-10) and 4.80 points/set (3rd A-10).

ABOUT DAYTON
Dayton (11-1, 8-1 A-10) captured the program's 14th A-10 regular season title after finishing in first place in the West Division and posting the overall best winning percentage (.889) to earn the right to host the championship tournament. The defending 2019 A-10 Champions are led by junior Jamie Peterson with 4.33 kills/set (2nd A-10) and 0.63 aces/set (1st A-10, 6th NCAA) while senior Bridget Doherty serves as the team's primary setter with 10.32 assists/set (2nd A-10). On defense, freshman Alayna Yates collects 1.23 blocks/set (2nd A-10) and junior Maura Collins gets under a team-best 3.88 digs/set (8th A-10).

DAYTON IN THE A-10 CHAMPIONSHIP
Dayton is on the hunt for its third-consecutive and 14th overall A-10 Championship title. In 23 appearances in the post-season conference tournament, the Flyers have tallied a 31-10 overall record and, since the team joined the league prior to the 1995 season, UD has only missed the championship twice (1995, 1999). Dayton boasts a total of 13 championship titles, five more than former A-10 member Penn State (8).

TOURNAMENT SEEDS
1. Dayton (11-1, 8-1 A-10)
2. VCU (12-4, 7-2 A-10)
3. Rhode Island (7-7, 6-3 A-10)
4. Fordham (5-4, 5-3 A-10)

MATCHUPS
Semifinals
Match 1: #2 VCU vs. #3 Rhode Island, Noon ET
Match 2: #1 Dayton vs. #4 Fordham, 4:00 pm ET
Finals
Match 3: Winner of Match 1 vs. Winner of Match 2, Noon ET

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