PULLMAN, Wash. - The 19th-ranked University of Dayton volleyball team will square off against RV Pepperdine Friday, December 1, in the first round of the 2023 NCAA Tournament. First serve between the Flyers and the Waves is set for 7 p.m. ET/4 p.m. PT at host Washington State's Bohler Gym.

ABOUT DAYTON
No. 19 Dayton (31-2) enters the weekend enjoying a 26-match winning streak, a new program record, and the Flyers have won 76 of their last 80 sets played. Averaging 2.31 aces/set, the Flyers lead all of Division I in that statistical category paced by sophomore Taylor Russell with 0.48 (20th NCAA). Junior Lexie Almodovar tallies 4.47 kills/set (12th NCAA) and 5.14 points/set (15th NCAA) while junior Alyssa Miller sets 10.74 assists/set (11th NCAA). Defensively, senior Amelia Moore collects 1.26 blocks/set (39th NCAA) and sophomore Karissa Kaminski gets under 4.65 digs/set (42nd NCAA).

SCOUTING PEPPERDINE
Pepperdine (19-8) closed out the regular season with a straight-set loss at SMU on Nov. 20 and dropped two of its last three matches after putting together a 17-match winning streak, which tied the second-longest streak in program history. The Waves earned the West Coast Conference's automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament after claiming the league's regular season title and Pepperdine will be making its 27th appearance in the national postseason championship. Grace Chillingworth paces the Waves' offense with 3.78 kills/set (61st NCAA) and 4.29 points/set (75th NCAA) while Isabel Zelaya sets 10.10 assists/set. On defense, Meg Brown is the team's leading blocker (0.94 blocks/set) and Riley Patterson passes 3.71 digs/set.

SERIES STUFF
Series Tied: 2-2
The all-time series between the Flyers and Waves is tied at two wins apiece. The last time the two squads met was also in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, Dec. 1, 2012 as Dayton came away with a 3-2 win to advance to round two.

LAST TIME OUT
Dayton secured the program's 16th Atlantic 10 Conference Championship title with a 3-1 win over second-seeded Loyola-Chicago on Nov. 19. No. 1 seed Dayton landed three players on the All-Championship Team in Alyssa Miller, Taylor Russell and Most Outstanding Player Lexie Almodovar.

RPI RANKINGS
In the NCAA's most recent Rating Percentage Index (RPI) for the 2023 season released Nov. 27, Dayton ranked 18th according to NCAA.com. Pepperdine came in at 41st.

AVCA/TARAFLEX TOP 25 COACHES POLL
In the Nov. 27 edition of the AVCA/TARAFLEX Division I Top 25 poll, Dayton was ranked 19th. This is the 12th-consecutive week the Flyers have appeared in the poll this season. Over the history of the AVCA WVB DI Coaches Top 25 Poll, Dayton has been ranked a total of 69 times and the program's highest ranking was No. 10 on Sept. 3, 2012.

DAYTON IN THE NCAA TOURNAMENT
2023 marks Dayton's 17th appearance in the NCAA Tournament and the Flyers hold a 9-16 overall mark in the national postseason tourney. UD has advanced to the Second Round nine times but have yet to break into the round of 16. Dayton returns to the NCAA Tournament in 2023 after missing it last season but is making its fifth appearance in the last six years.

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