DAYTON – In a clash between two of the Atlantic 10’s top teams, Xavier fell in four games to host Dayton by scores of 23-30, 22-30, 30-26, and 22-30.

In game one, UD’s combo of Faye Barhorst and Christy Utnage were too much for the Musketeers. Xavier’s Danielle Skrajewski kept XU close as she tallied six kills in the game on a .385 hitting percentage. Five service errors and seven hitting errors haunted the Musketeers early, but they kept it close. With the score 17-18 favoring Dayton, the Flyers made a seven-point run to increase their lead to 25-17 and put the game out of reach for XU.

The second contest proved to be the same story as too many XU hitting errors were costly. At the halfway point in the game, the Musketeers were hitting a meager -.095 and ended the game with more hitting errors than kills.

The third game finally saw the Musketeers get a bounce in their step. With the score tied at 24-24, a kill by Astyn Bjorklund gave XU the lead for good. Game three saw the teams battle back-and-forth as they knotted the score 12 times with the lead changing hands in 12 instances as well.

In the final contest, the Flyers again used the combo of Barhorst and Utnage to shut down the Musketeers front line and seal the match. Errors again cost XU but UD also took advantage of weak spots in the Musketeer defense.

Junior Kate Duchek again led the Musketeers as she recorded 12 kills and seven digs in the match. Skrajewski ended the contest with 11 kills and 14 digs to record her tenth double-double of the season. Freshman Jill Quayle also tallied 11 kills on the night. Defensively four Musketeers who tallied 10 or more digs led the Musketeers. Junior Jordan Brightwell led the way with 17 followed by classmate Carley Horvath who had 13. Senior Molly Martin also chipped in defensively as she had 15 digs to go along with 43 assists on the night.

As a result of the loss, Xavier drops to 12-9 on the year and 6-2 in the Atlantic 10. Dayton moves to 15-6 on the year and 7-1 in the A-10. With the loss, XU now stands alone in the conference standings at third place. Dayton holds a half game lead on second place Temple. The Musketeers will have the weekend off before they travel to Fordham and Rhode Island on October 29 and 30.