Flyer Volleyball Downs George Washington in A10 Opener

By: Meaghan McNichol – Staff Writer

The Dayton volleyball team walked into conference play with an overall record of 13-1. They continued their success on Friday, Sept 23 in Frericks Center with a 3-1 (25-19, 27-25, 19-25,25-18) win over the George Washington University Colonials to kick off their Atlantic 10 schedule 1-0.

Dayton now holds a 14-1 overall record, 1-0 in league play.

“We are very well-coached,” junior Jessica Sloan said after the match. “We’re disciplined 99% of the time and we all try to focus on the little things and it has been coming together very well during matches.”

Juniors Jane Emmenecker and Amber Erhahon set the tone early in the first set with a double block that put the Flyer ahead 5-3. It was a close set–the Flyers and Colonials both struggled to maintain a lead. UD went on a seven-point tear toward the end of the set, putting them ahead 24-18. Ultimately, the Flyers took the set 25-19.

Set number two was an even closer battle. Sophomore Margo Wolf served an ace that gave Dayton an early 6-3 lead over GW, but the Colonials came back quickly. The teams went back and forth the entirety of the game, and the Flyers rallied from a slight deficit to even the game at 23 points. It took extra serves, but Dayton won 27-25.

The two teams seesawed back and forth with the lead for the first half of the third set, but GW went on a six point tear to take a controlling 18-12 lead. Dayton fell in the third set 19-25.

Set four was in the Flyers control from the very beginning. They opened play with a 5-0 lead. Sloan’s service earned the Flyers seven unanswered points later to give UD an 18-11 advantage. Dayton finished off the fourth set, taking it 25-18, and the match 3-1.

Sloan led all attackers with 18 kills. Freshman Jamie Peterson was not far behind with 13 kills for UD. Wolf contributed to with team’s success as leading passer with 18 digs, five assists and three service aces.

“Consistency was one of the biggest challenges of this match,” Sloan said. “There were points where we were playing really well and we went on strings of point after point but we also would have four in a row that we would mess up on.”

With a thirst for consistency and a hope to further their success, Dayton continues their season at home on Sunday against George Mason.