Flyers take two of three games in Cleveland
By: Keith Raad – Asst. Sports Editor
For the third straight weekend, University of Dayton volleyball won two of three matches, pushing their record to 6-2 after the Cleveland State University Invitational Sept. 12-13.
The Flyers handled the University of Toledo and the Naval Academy, while falling in four sets to host Cleveland State University, who would go on to win the tournament on their home floor.
On Friday evening, Dayton took care of Toledo in four sets. With a season-high 13 team blocks, including six block assists from redshirt-junior middle blocker Angel Agu and a season-high five from junior hitter Jenna Jendryk, the Toledo offense struggled.
UD’s junior outside hitter Alaina Turner notched a match-high 20 kills, swinging a .304 hitting percentage, and adding 13 digs on the defensive side. Junior outside hitter Jill Loiars contributed a career-high 18 kills and a .341 hitting percentage.
However, 55 digs between Turner and junior libero Janna Krafka were not enough defensively to stop tournament host Cleveland State University Saturday afternoon. The Vikings, out of the Horizon League, used a balanced offense to down Dayton.
For the Vikings, junior outside hitter Christina Toth amassed a career-high 18 kills at the pins while senior middle blocker Molly Hannon crushed 14 kills on a .400 hitting percentage in the middle of the court.
On the Flyer side of the net, Turner, Loiars and Jendryk had double-digit kill totals thanks, in part, to freshman setter Jane Emmenecker, who dished out a career-high 49 assists. The Flyers had momentum in the second set knocking down 22 kills, the highest single-set total of the season and a team percentage of .405. UD tied the match 1-1, but faltered in the third, hitting only .024 with ten kills, losing the set 25-23. CSU edged Dayton in the fourth set by the same score to win the match.
Saturday evening featured Flyer freshman middle blocker Amber Erhahon.
The Albany, California native got her first career start and hammered nine kills with a .389 hitting percentage. On the defensive side Erhahon had six block assists and one solo block. Behind the efforts of Erhahon, Dayton took down the Naval Academy in three sets by scores of 32-30, 25-22 and 25-14.
The Midshipmen are led by the winningest coach in NCAA history, Larry Bock, who joined the Naval Academy’s program four years ago after a 34-year stint at Juniata College. Bock won 1,352 of 1,639 while coaching the women’s and men’s teams. He is a five-time AVCA Coach of the Year and a 2003 AVCA Hall of Fame inductee.
While UD defeated two opponents over the weekend, it was service errors that plagued the team. With 17 errors against Toledo and 13 against Cleveland State, Dayton amassed 42 percent of their service errors for the season in just two matches.
The Flyers travel to Jacksonville, Florida, for the University of North Florida Invitational Sept. 19-20. Dayton will compete against former Atlantic 10 Conference opponent Charlotte as well as Jacksonville University, UNF and Nicholls State University.