WACO, Texas – The No. 23-ranked University of Dayton volleyball team rallied to take down No. 16 Baylor and advance to the NCAA Regionals for the first time in program history, winning an epic five-set thriller (25-22, 22-25, 24-26, 25-21, 15-12) on Friday night at the Ferrell Center.
 
Redshirt senior Lexie Almodovar had a career night, finishing with a record 34 kills to go along with eight digs and a pair of aces. Almodovar became the first Flyer in program history to surpass the 2,000 career kill mark.
 
UD came out scorching in the first set, topping Baylor 25-22 while hitting an eye-popping .516 from the floor. The Bears bounced back to win the next two, and then needed extra points to take a back-and-forth third set, 26-24. The Flyers remained resilient, however, and led from start to finish in the fourth to even the match with a 25-21 win.
 
The final set had eight ties and five lead changes, but in the end the Flyers pulled through thanks to a 5-2 run fueled by three Liana Sarkissian kills and a pair of Almodovar blasts to finish the match.
 
In addition to Almodovar's career night, Sarkissian had a career-high 17 kills while hitting .500. Redshirt senior Brooke Smith added a season-high 14 kills while hitting .323 on the pin. Junior libero Karissa Kaminski had a dig-assist double-double, leading all players with 22 digs while also distributing 13 assists. Senior setter Alyssa Miller divvied out a season-high 51 assists.

The Flyers were once again dangerous at the service line, finishing the match with 10 aces, led by sophomore Gaby Arroyo's three.

Friday was the 10th five-set NCAA match the Flyers have played, and the win evened their all-time record at 5-5. The win is the 12th NCAA victory in program history for the Flyers.
 
BY THE NUMBERS
72 – kills for Dayton, out-pacing Baylor by 13
.275 – the Flyers' hitting efficiency in the match, the fourth-best against the Bears this season
51 – assists for Alyssa Miller, her new season-high  
34 – kills for Lexie Almodovar, her new career-high and seventh 20+ kill performance of the season
22 – digs for Karissa Kaminski, her second 20+ dig performance of the season
17 – kills for Liana Sarkissian, a new career-high
14 – kills for Brooke Smith, a new season-best
10 – service aces for the Flyers, giving them back-to-back double-digit ace effort for the first time in their tournament history
8 – blocks for UD in the match, led by Alayna Yates and Liana Sarkissian with four apiece
2 – five-set matches on the season for the Flyers, who also topped UNI in the first match of the season
 
UP NEXT
Dayton will now take on the winner of the Lincoln sub-regional in the NCAA Regionals. Time and dates of the regional will be announced after sub-regional play.
 
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