Cori Dayton led the Niners with 11 kills in a 3-0 loss at Dayton. |
|
|
Charlotte Falls in Three at No. 14 Dayton
Oct. 13, 2007
Dayton, Ohio - No. 14 Dayton remained as one of only two undefeated teams in the nation with a 3-0 (30-13, 30-21, 30-22) victory over visiting Charlotte at Frericks Center on Saturday. Dayton is undefeated on the season and in league play (21-0, 8-0 A-10) and faces off against the league's other unbeaten team, Xavier on Friday. Charlotte drops to 11-10 overall, with a 1-5 Atlantic 10 mark.
"We ran into a very good team tonight," said Niners head coach Chris Redding. "They showed us why they are a top 20 team."
The 14th-ranked Flyers are joined by the top-ranked and defending National Champions Nebraska as the lone undefeated teams remaining in NCAA Division I. Dayton is in the midst of its best start and longest winning streak in school history. The stretch has been highlighted by school-record seven straight 3-0 sweeps of the competition and 14 in 21 matches overall.
UD opened up strong with a 30-13 victory in game one as the middle blocker duo of Bethany Akerhielm and Lindsay Fletemier had four kills each. Senior libero Adrienne Green shut down the 49er offense almost single-handedly with 10 digs in the first game alone. The Flyers out hit the 49ers .265 to -.057 as Erin Schroeder dished out assists on eight of 13 kills for UD. Jamie-Lee Richards also added two service aces as UD won the opening game for the 21st time in 21 matches this season.
The Flyers kept up the defensive pressure to win game two by a count of 30-21 as Dayton out hit Charlotte .324 to .000. UD tallied 3.0 team blocks including two by Lindsay Fletemier to take a 2-0 lead in the match. Jamie-Lee Richards added four more kills while Erin Schroeder and Yvonne Marten had three each as Dayton led wire-to-wire. Senior Robynne Green picked up her 1,000th kill as her blast down the middle gave UD a 26-12 lead in game two en route to the 30-21 victory.
Akerhielm took over again in game three as she tallied five kills on just seven swings to go along with three blocks. UD was in charge for most of the way with the Flyer Five on the court as it racked up a .355 to .147 advantage in hitting en route to a 30-22 win.
|
|
 |
"The nice thing was that Dayton played full on because they had seen how well we have been playing lately," said Redding. "We just didn't have enough weapons tonight and they took advantage of that. I was proud that we did not roll over against a team that has been playing well. We kept battling."
Charlotte led for just five points in the match, to start game three.
Senior Cori Dayton led the Niners with 11 kills and junior libero Carly Romberg had 17 digs to tie the match high. Senior Eden Ramos dished out 13 assists, while junior Courtney Cowles recorded 12 assists.
Charlotte returns home after this four-match road trip to take on a pair of A-10 teams. The Niners host Saint Louis on Friday night at 7 p.m. and Duquesne Sunday afternoon at 1 p.m.
