Volleyball Becomes First UD Team To Be Ranked For Entire Season

Dec. 21, 2010

Final AVCA Top-25

LEXINGTON, Ky. – The 2010 University of Dayton volleyball team became the first team of any sport in Dayton history to be nationally ranked for the entire season with a No. 15 ranking the final American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Top-25 Poll released on Tuesday.

“At the beginning of the year we talked about how great teams are ones that are consistently good over long periods of time,” Head Coach Kelly Sheffield said. “I thought this team brought it every night and improved throughout the course of the year.  Those are the things we concentrate on during the season and this team was able to do that.  It was a fun team to coach and it's nice to once again be considered one of the top programs in the country.”

UD began the season ranked No. 21 in the preseason poll and climbed to the program’s highest spot at No. 12 on Nov. 22 behind a 23-match winning streak which earned Atlantic 10 Regular Season and Tournament titles and a fourth consecutive trip to the NCAA Tournament. It is the 19th consecutive week Flyer volleyball has been ranked dating back to last season, making it the first time the program has finished in the top 25 in back-to-back seasons. Dayton finished the 2009 season ranked No. 25.

Dayton (28-4, 15-0 Atlantic 10) finished the season in the Second Round of the NCAA Championship for the second consecutive year as the program’s highest seed (No. 14) in the NCAA Tournament.

Penn State (32-5) won its fourth consecutive NCAA Championship title on Saturday in Kansas City, Mo., to reclaim the No. 1 spot in the AVCA poll held by Florida for most of the season. Dayton played five top 25 teams in the final poll, including No. 7 Nebraska, No. 9 Illinois, No. 14 Northern Iowa, No. 10 Minnesota, and No. 19 Ohio State.

As the first team in Dayton history to be nationally ranked for the entire season, naturally the Flyers boast a lengthy postseason honor roll including AVCA Northeast Region and Atlantic 10 Coach of the Year Kelly Sheffield. Senior Lindsay Fletemier earned AVCA All-America honors for the third consecutive season as a Second-Team selection while being named the Atlantic 10 Player of the Year in back-to-back seasons. Senior Jessica Yanz was named an AVCA Honorable Mention All-American along with A-10 Setter of the Year and A-10 Tournament MVP honors. Senior Becky Novacek was named the A-10 Student-Athlete of the Year. Senior Amanda Cowdrey joined Fletemier, Yanz, and Novacek as First Team All-Conference and All-Tournament team selections.

Dayton Volleyball in the Polls
Consecutive weeks ranked: 19 (No. 24; 11/23/09 – No. 15; present) Highest ranking: No. 12 (10/15/07; 11/12/10) 2010 Week-by-Week (AVCA)
Preseason 8/17: 8/30: 9/6: 9/13: 9/20: 9/27: 10/4: 10/11: 10/18: 10/25: 11/1: 11/8: 11/15: 11/22: 11/29:   Final 12/21:	21 20 20 20 19 20 19 18 18 17 17 17 13 12 13 15