University of Dayton Athletics

BOWLING GREEN, Ohio – The University of Dayton volleyball team faced mixed results on Friday's matches of the Bowling Green/Toledo Invitational, defeating Missouri in five sets (25-22, 12-25, 20-25, 25-22, 16-14) and falling to Bowling Green in four sets (24-26, 25-18, 22-25, 22-25).

Kaleigh Meritt led the Flyers with 30 kills and five blocks on the day. Natalie Harrington totaled five service aces.

MATCH ONE
Dayton 3, Missouri 2
The Flyers took an early lead in set one, leading by as much as seven points at 12-5. Missouri fought back to keep the set within one, but a kill by Charlotte Vinson put away the first set.

Mizzou dominated the second set and took a 2-1 lead after winning the third set 25-20.

The fourth set went back-and-forth with 18 tie scores and six lead changes. Tied at 22 apiece, Dayton went on a three-point run with kills from Meritt and Gabriela Machin Borges and an attack error from the Tigers to force a fifth set.

Trailing 12-9 in the fifth, the Flyers went on a four-point run with kills from Machin Borges and Meritt and a pair of block assists by Addi Gallentine and Meritt to take a 13-12 lead. With the set tied at 14, a pair of errors aided Dayton in the win.

MATCH TWO
Dayton 1, Bowling Green 3
Dayton held pace with the Falcons in the first set, taking an early 5-2 lead. After 11 tie scores, Bowling Green pushed ahead with back-to-back points after the match was tied at 24 apiece.

The Flyers opened the second set on a seven-point run with kills from Gallentine, Machin Borges and Meritt and back-to-back aces for Kamryn Hunt. Dayton won the set 25-18, the largest margin of the night.

Set three was close, tying the set 10 times. Tied at 19-19, Bowling Green took a 22-19 lead, holding on to the lead for the rest of the set.

Down 22-16 in the fourth set, Dayton went on a five-point run to be back one point, highlighted by three kills by Meritt. Back-to-back points for Bowling Green earned the Falcons set point, putting the match away at 25-22.

BY THE NUMBERS
12 – Kills for Kaleigh Meritt and Gabriela Machin Borges against Missouri

3 – Service aces for Natalie Harrington over Mizzou

18 – Kills for Meritt against Bowling Green

26 – Assists for Harrington against the Falcons

2 – Block assists for Charlotte Vinson in the evening's match

UP NEXT
The Flyers will face Toledo at 11 a.m. on Saturday at the Savage Arena in Toledo, Ohio.