The University of Dayton volleyball team won its seventh consecutive match with a two-game sweep of Fordham University and the University of Rhode Island Friday, Oct. 12, and Saturday, Oct. 13, at the Frericks Center.
The Flyers now have a 7-0 record in the Atlantic 10 Conference and are 15-4 overall this season.
On Friday, the Flyers swept Fordham, who entered the match with just a lone loss in conference play.
Senior middle blocker Shayne Brown led the team with 13 kills and was closely followed by junior middle blocker Megan Campbell’s 12 kills and senior outside hitter Rachel Krabacher’s 10 kills to go with nine digs. Senior setter Samantha Selsky recorded 41 assists to lead Dayton.
Fordham quickly took control of the first set, winning the first three points. After Flyers head coach Kelly Sheffield called a quick timeout, Dayton came out with a 7-1 run and used it to stay on top of the Rams for the rest of the first set, taking it 25-19.
Behind Brown, Dayton’s offensive attack overpowered the Rams in the match’s second set on the way to an early 15-7 lead, eventually taking the set in dominating fashion, 25-11. From there, the Flyers controlled the third set from start to finish winning the match.
“We played well versus Fordham,” Krabacher said. “We set high passing goals for the game and in accomplishing that, we were able to execute the slide at a very high level which definitely gave us an advantage.”
On Saturday, the Flyers returned to play its second game of the weekend with a match-up against URI, which ended in another three-set sweep.
Campbell led the team with 11 kills on 19 attempts while also tallying 4.5 of Dayton’s 10 total blocks. Krabacher added 10 kills, and Selsky racked up 30 assists for the Flyers. The Flyers gained early leads in all three sets on its way to identical final scores in every set, at 25-12.
“One of the things we talked about before the match is we haven’t really been starting matches very well,” Sheffield said. “Granted, we know people are going to be coming after us … we’ve gotten better as matches have gone on, but an emphasis was getting off on the right foot and being aggressive early.”
“We always use the analogy that we are on a train and win or lose, we keep moving and getting better,” Krabacher said. “Although we came out with the win, there are definitely things to work on in this upcoming week.
“Our coaches do a great job scouting our opponent and having us work on a variety of things in practice, be it specific to our weekend opponents, or just skills that we need to work on to be a more complete team.”
The Flyers entered the week ranked No. 18 in the latest American Volleyball Coaches Association poll released on Oct. 8. After tallying these two conference victories, the Flyers remained undefeated at home this season and unbeaten in the Atlantic 10 Conference.
“It was great to be back playing in the Frericks Center, but we’re working on taking that energy into games on the road, and this weekend will be a test for that,” Krabacher said.
The Flyers will be on the road for its next match at Saint Louis University at 7 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 19, in St. Louis, Mo. The Flyers defeated SLU earlier this season at the Frericks Center in a three-set sweep on Sept. 22.
