OMAHA, Neb. - The University of Dayton volleyball team is in Omaha for the 2020 NCAA Championship this week and will take on Towson in first-round action Wednesday. First serve between the Flyers and Tigers is set for 3:30 p.m. ET. All matches of this year's tournament will be played at CHI Omaha Health Center.
 

#UDVB (13-1) vs. Towson (6-0) April 14 | 3:30 p.m. ET NCAA First Round Live Stats ESPN3 Towson Audio Broadcast

SCOUTING TOWSON
Towson (6-0) claimed its second-consecutive Colonial Athletic Association volleyball championship with back-to-back 3-0 wins over College of Charleston and Northeastern April 2 & 3. The Tigers, who have only played a total of 19 sets this spring, are led by CAA Championship Most Outstanding Player Nina Cajic with a .358 hitting percentage and 3.84 kills/set while Kristin Spengler serves as the team's primary setter with 11.68 assists/set. On defense, Aayinde Smith is tough to beat at the net with 1.29 blocks/set and the Tigers rank 19th nationally with 2.63 blocks/set as a team.

ABOUT DAYTON
Dayton (13-1) has won 13 consecutive matches after dropping it first contest of the season. The Flyers are making the program's 15th NCAA Tournament appearance in 2020-21 after claiming the team's 14th Atlantic 10 Conference Championship title. Dayton is coming off 3-0 wins over Fordham and VCU in the A-10 Tournament April 2-3, which was hosted by the Flyers, and since the beginning of March UD has only dropped a total of two sets. The Flyers' offense is led by 2020 AVCA Midwest Region and Atlantic 10 Conference Player of the Year Jamie Peterson who currently ranks 25th in all of NCAA DI with 4.33 kills/set and is fifth in the nation with 0.61 aces/set while carrying a .306 hitting percentage. Senior setter Bridget Doherty, an AVCA All-Midwest Region Team honoree and A-10 Setter of the Year, is averaging a career-best 10.38 assists/set (2nd A-10) serving as the team's primary setter. Freshman middle blocker Alayna Yate's hitting percentage (.376) leads the A-10 and ranks 34th nationally and she leads the team with 1.21 blocks/set.

THE SERIES
Dayton and Towson have previously met three times with the Flyers claiming the win in all three match-ups. Most recently, the pair squared off on Sept. 6, 2008 in Frericks Center for the Dayton Flyer Invitational. Dayton picked up the 3-1 win. Wednesday's match will be the first neutral-site meeting between the Tigers and Flyers.

DAYTON IN THE NCAA TOURNAMENT
Dayton is making the program's 15th appearance in the 2020-21 NCAA Championship and the Flyers hold a 7-14 overall record in NCAA tournament games. The Flyers have advanced to the Second Round seven times but have not been able to get over the second-round hump. Dayton dropped a 3-0 decision to 16th-ranked Marquette in the first round of the 2019 national tourney.

OUR FEARLESS LEADER
Head coach Tim Horsmon has managed the Dayton volleyball team for a total of 12 seasons (he is currently in the seventh year of his second stint at UD) and has amassed an overall record of 283-82 at the helm of the Flyer program. This year, the Maryland native earned his fifth Atlantic 10 Coach of the Year award and his third AVCA Regional Coach of the Year award after navigating a tough, pandemic-riddled, unconventional season for the Flyers, leading the team to a 13-match winning streak and into the program's 15th appearance in the NCAA Tournament.

UP NEXT
If Dayton advances to second-round play at the 2020 NCAA Championship, it will square off against sixth-seeded Washington on Thursday. The match will get underway at 3:30 p.m.

FOLLOW #UDVB
Follow the Flyers on Twitter: @DaytonVB, Facebook: University of Dayton Volleyball Page and Instagram: udaytonvb