BOWLING GREEN, Ky. – The No. 24-ranked University of Dayton volleyball team took care of business on the opening day of the Western Kentucky Hyatt Place Invitational, dispatching Illinois 3-1 before taking down host WKU in a clean sweep at E.A. Diddle Arena.
 
UD handed Illinois its first loss of the 2024 campaign with an 18-25, 25-19, 25-20, 25-18 victory to start the day, then turned around for the tournament's marquee matchup against WKU, the Flyers won 25-20, 25-21, 25-20 to improve to 8-0 on the season.
 
Dayton 3 Illinois 1
Dayton dropped the opening set to the Fighting Illini, 25-18, but then stormed back to win 25-19, 25-20, 25-18 to open the day. After the slow opening set, the Flyers hit .353 over the final three sets.
 
KEY STATS
1.000 – perfect reception percentage on 19 chances for junior libero Karissa Kaminski
45 – assists for senior setter Alyssa Miller
25 – digs for Kaminski, a new season-high
24 – kills for redshirt senior Lexie Almodovar, who hit an incredible .535 and added 12 digs
12 – kills for redshirt senior Brooke Smith, her third 10+ kill performance of the season
10 – kills for junior Liana Sarkissian, who hit .474 and had two blocks
 
Dayton 3 Western Kentucky 0
The Flyers returned in their second match of the day to sweep the host Hilltoppers, 25-20, 25-21, 25-20. UD out-paced WKU in attack percentage (.337 to .188), total blocks (9 to 6), assists (48 to 28), and digs (41 to 28).  
 
KEY STATS
43 – assists for senior Alyssa Miller to go along with a match-high 11 digs
13 – kills for junior Liana Sarkissian, who also hit a game-high .476
12 – kills for redshirt senior Lexie Almodovar, who now has double-digit kill totals in six consecutive matches
8 – kills for redshirt senior Alayna Yates
7 – total blocks for Sarkissian, leading all Flyers
7 – kills for redshirt senior Brooke Smith, who hit an impressive .462 in the match
7 – kills for redshirt junior Taylor Russell
.188 – hitting percentage for WKU, the fourth time UD has held an opponent under .200 this season

UP NEXT
Dayton finishes the Western Kentucky Hyatt Place Invitational on Saturday, Sept. 14 with a 1:30 p.m. ET match against RV Marquette at E.A. Diddle Arena.

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