Dayton Volleyball Edges Cincinnati in Four Sets
September 29, 2009
Posted September 29, 2009
Posted By Jacob Rosen
udjrosen@gmail.com
In a match that was supposed to be the most difficult home test to date for the Dayton Flyers volleyball team, it was back to business as usual at the Frericks Center. Led by a marvelous defensive performance by junior Lindsay Fletemier, the Flyers upended the intimidating Cincinnati Bearcats in four sets by the final score of 27-25, 29-27, 24-26, and 25-21.
It was the second straight victory for Dayton and came at the hands of the 2008 BIG EAST Champions. The Bearcats actually defeated last season's Atlantic-10 Champion the St. Louis Billikens earlier in the year, an impressive task that made this inter-state match-up all the more intriguing. The actual match did not disappoint in comparison to the hype, as the first three sets all went into tie-breakers.
The attacking was slow to get started as the team had just 18 kills against 12 attack errors in the first two sets. Sophomore Anna Eytchison anchored the last two sets however, as the offense shot better than .230 in the final two games. The Flyers faced adversity in every single set, proving once again to Coach Kelly Sheffield how well the team responds in difficult situations.
Fletemier was not her usual self offensively, hitting only .071 with seven kills, but provided a career-best 14 blocks (two solo and 12 assists)on the night. Eytchison and junior Tiffany Gaerke led the winning club with 13 kills each, a career-high for Eytchison as well as her seven blocks. Dayton had just 19 attack errors compared to 31 for Cincinnati, and had 18 total blocks while the Bearcats had only 10.
A breakdown of the set-by-set analysis follows. Dayton remains at home for the rest of the week, taking on a pair of A-10 opponents at the Frericks Center. Temple comes to visit on Friday night with La Salle as the opponent on Saturday for the second and third conference games of the season:
First Set: The Flyers took the first set by the final score of 27-25 on the back of five blocks from Lindsay Fletemier. The honorable mention All-American was the star in the back-and-forth set as the Flyers scored the last three points to win.
Second Set: On paper it seems difficult to find the reason why the Flyers came up victorious again, but three services aces and some solid setting helped Dayton eek by with a 29-27 victory. Hannah Clancy recorded nine assists as the Flyers erased a late 16-21 deficit.
Third Set: Down 23-19, the Flyers had yet another improbable comeback but could not convert at the end. Cincinnati took a second straight timeout with the score tied at 23-all, but the Bearcats controlled it from there in winning 26-24 to extend the match.
Fourth Set: Looking not to face another deficit, the Flyers led 13-11 and later 18-16 in holding off the Bearcats for good. The first set won by more than two points, Dayton capitalized on better offensive play with 15 kills and just two errors in the set to win by the score of 25-21.
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