Flyers volleyball faces Marquette for second time in three seasons in NCAA Tournament
The Flyers volleyball team celebrates after their 3-1 win over Saint Louis at Frericks Center Oct. 10. Photo courtesy of Zach Merz, Flyer News.
Lucy Couch
The Dayton Flyers make their 16th NCAA Tournament appearance this season. Going undefeated in the Atlantic 10 and winning the conference championship, the Flyers earned an automatic bid into the tournament.
On Thursday, Dec. 2, at 4:30 p.m, the volleyball team will face Marquette University. The match will be played at Holloway Gymnasium in West Lafayette, Ind., which is home to the Purdue Boilermakers volleyball program.
Marquette is 26-5 on the season and was crowned runner-up to No. 22 Creighton in the Big East Championship last week. The team is led by Big East co-Player of the Year, Taylor Wolf. Wolf is only the second player in Marquette history to receive this award. The right-side hitter/setter out of Waconia, Minn., sits second in all of Division I volleyball with seven triple-doubles on the season. She is also among the Big East leaders in hitting percentage, (10th, .303), kills (10th, 2.87/set), and assists (12th, 5.42/set).
Dayton is 25-5 on the season and the team is undefeated in conference play. The Flyers are coming off of an Atlantic 10 Championship and are on a 19-game win streak. Led by three-time A-10 Player of the Year, Jamie Peterson, the Flyers look to continue this streak on Thursday. Livie Sandt earned A-10 Setter of the Year, dishing out 9.44 assists per set, and Amelia Moore leads the conference in blocks with 1.21 blocks per stanza.
The Flyers look to redeem themselves this year as they fell to the Golden Eagles in the first round of the NCAA Division I Tournament in 2019. That match was also played at Holloway Gymnasium and Marquette came out on top, 3-0. Marquette’s Ellie Koontz and Katie Schoessow are the only active players on the team that saw action against the Flyers in 2019. Dayton’s Peterson, Moore, and Collins were key players in that match and look to compete again this time around.
Dayton is 17-7 against Marquette since 1986, but the Golden Eagles have claimed the last three outings since 2003, including the sweep in the first round of the 2019 NCAA Tournament.
Led by head coach Tim Horsmon, the Flyers look to make a statement this post-season. Horsmon is in his 13th season overall with Dayton and has had tremendous success with the university. The match will be streamed on Dec. 2. at 4:30 p.m EST on ESPN+.
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