Nov. 30, 2007

Weekly Release in PDF Format

Dayton Sub-Regional Tournament Central

FLYER FACTS... DAYTON EARNS FOURTH NCAA BERTH, WILL HOST SOLD-OUT CROWD For the first time in program history, #15 Dayton volleyball will host the NCAA First and Second Rounds this weekend. The Flyers earned the 15th seed in the 64-team tournament and will play Lipscomb in the First Round in front of a sold out crowd at Frericks Center. UD, the Atlantic 10 Champion, and LU, the A-Sun Champion will begin 30 minutes following the conclusion of the match between at-large participants Michigan State and Kentucky at 5 p.m. ET.

WHAT A SELLOUT Despite hosting for the first time in program history, tickets for the Dayton Sub-Regional sold out for the entire weekend more than 24 hours before the start of Friday's matches. The Frericks Center will host expected crowds of over 2,000 fans throughout the weekend including a group of over 800 University of Dayton undergraduates that will be in attendance due to the generousity of the UD Student Development Office.

HEAD OF THE CLASS In its 13th season as a member of the A-10, Dayton holds a .763 winning percentage in conference play all-time (161-50), the best among active A-10 schools. The Flyers have won 35 of their last 38 Atlantic 10 Conference regular-season matches beginning with a win over GW on Sept. 24, 2005.

DAYTON BREEDS TOP NOTCH TALENT Since Tim Horsmon took over as head coach in 2003, UD Volleyball has been home to the winners of four Atlantic 10 Player of the Year honors (Erin Treadway - 2003, Christy Utnage - 2004, Faye Barhorst - 2005 & 2006), two A-10 Setters of the Year (Nicole Schott - 2005, Erin Treadway - 2006), two A-10 Rookies of the Year (Faye Barhorst -2003, Lindsay Fletemier - 2007) and the 2005 A-10 Coach of the Year (Tim Horsmon). Dayton has also taken home 11 All-Conference selections and five AVCA Honorable Mention All-America honors since 2003.

FLYERS EARN A-10 HONORS Along with Lindsay Fletemier being named the 2007 Atlantic 10 Rookie of the Year, UD had four players earn either First or Second Team All-Conference honors. Jamie-Lee Richards and Bethany Akerhielm were named to the First Team while Fletemier and Erin Schroeder were Second Teamers.

DID YOU KNOW? The University of Dayton volleyball program has won 850 matches since the inception of the program in 1970. UD ranks 12th all-time in NCAA Division I history ahead of such powers as Pacific, Stanford, Ohio State, USC, Wisconsin, LSU and Illinois.

IT'S GREAT TO BE A FLYER This Fall has been a season of winning for Dayton athletics teams. In addition to the football team winning the PFL Regular Season Championship with a 10-1 record and being ranked #1 in the Sports Network Mid-Major poll, the 15th-ranked Flyer volleyball team began its season with 21 consecutive victories and is currently 32-1, the men's soccer team was 10-4-4 and finished sixth in the A-10 standings while women's soccer was 13-4-4 and advanced to the A-10 semifinals. Football, men's and women's soccer and volleyball are a combined 65-10-8, compared to 40-33-5 all of last season.

FLYERS RANKED 15TH IN LATEST CSTV/AVCA TOP 25 POLL For the first time in school history, Dayton has broken into the Top 25 nationally this season. UD was ranked 15th with 633 votes in the latest CSTV/AVCA Top 25 Coaches Poll on Monday. Dayton has been ranked for 13 consecutive weeks. UD increased its number of votes received each week as well from zero in the preseason poll to an all-time high of 749 to earn a No. 12 ranking on Oct. 15. The Flyers are the first Atlantic 10 Conference team to be ranked in the Top 25 since #25 Temple was ranked in the final two weeks of the 2002 poll. The last A-10 member to be ranked during the regular season was Penn State in 1990.

NATIONAL RESPECT The University of Dayton volleyball team has started to become a regular name in the minds of the CSTV/AVCA Top 25 Poll voters. Dayton has recieved votes in 16 different polls over the past four seasons including 14 of 15 this year. UD picked up six votes at the end of the 2003 season after an upset of Michigan State in the First Round of the NCAA Tournament. Dayton was also among those receiving votes in the first three polls of the 2006 season including 28 votes on Sep. 11, 2006.

GETTIN' SOME PUB The Flyer volleyball team was featured in a Sept. 5 article on ESPN.com by Dave Reed for its hot start to the 2007 season and success since 2003 under Head Coach Tim Horsmon. The complete article can be found at ESPN.com's College Sports page at http://sports.espn.go.com/ncaa. Adrienne and Robynne Green were also the focus of the A-10 Spotlight on Sept. 20 on www.Atlantic10.org.

TEAM OF THE WEEK Dayton was named the FOX 45/ABC 22 Home Team of the Week on Sept. 20 for getting off to its best start ever. Also, earlier that week redshirt freshman Lindsay Fletemier was featured in a piece on the stattions called "She Got Game" which focuses each week on female athletes in the Dayton area.

LOOKING UP Dayton boasts one of the tallest rosters in the nation and the tallest in the Atlantic 10. UD averages 6-0 per player including Lindsay Fletemier who is a team-high 6-6. In fact, if all 15 Flyers laid down head to toe they would stretch from one end of the Frericks Center SportCourt to the other.

ANOTHER BIG WIN FOR THE FLYERS UD has defeated a ranked team in each of the past two seasons and each victory came nearly one year to the day apart from each other. The Flyers beat then-#18 Arizona on Sept. 2, 2006 in a neutral site match in Louisville, Ky. Dayton also swept then-#17 Purdue on Sept. 1, 2007 on its own home court in West Lafayette, Ind. UD is 2-4 against ranked teams over the past two seasons.

BACK TO BACK OVER THE BIG TEN Two of Dayton's wins this season have come against members of one of the strongest volleyball Conferences in the nation. UD beat Illinois and Purdue in back-to-back matches to mark the first time in school history that the Flyers had defeated Big Ten opponents in successive contests.

DEBUTING `THE FLYER FIVE' Dayton's freshmen class was ranked as the nation's No. 22 recruiting class according to PrepVolleyball.com. The rankings compiled by John Tawa of PrepVolleyball.com included the first five players which committed to play at Dayton this fall. The class began with Tiffany Gaerke, Yvonne Marten and Becky Novacek signing in November and was bolstered with the additions of Rachael Broerman and Kacie Hausfeld in the Spring.

FIVE FOR FIGHTING Dayton is 4-0 this season in five-game matches and all four of those wins have come with the Flyers rebounding after losing games two and three in each match. UD survived match point in game four to beat Illinois on Aug. 25 in five games. The Flyers also beat both Utah and North Carolina in five-game matches that were played within 75 minutes of each other on Sept. 1. Dayton defeated Saint Louis in its A-10 opener on Sept. 21

SCHROEDER NAMED ATLANTIC 10 PLAYER OF THE WEEK Redshirt junior Erin Schroeder was named Atlantic 10 Player of the Week on Oct. 29 after leading the Flyers to wins over Duquesne and Saint Louis. She helped UD out hit the competition .278 to .192 by averaging 12.88 apg and 2.25 dpg in a pair of victories.

RICHARDS EARNS A-10 PLAYER OF THE WEEK HONORS Senior Jamie-Lee Richards was named the A-10 Player of the Week for the first time in her career on Sept. 17. She earned the award after taking home the MVP trophy at the Towson Invitational be averaging 5.11 kpg and a .519 hitting percentage in three different 3-0 sweeps.

AKERHIELM EARNS A-10 POW HONORS Junior middle blocker Bethany Akerhielm was named the Atlantic 10 Player of the Week on Oct. 1 after averaging 3.00 kpg while hitting at a .500 clip to go along with 2.17 bpg in a pair of UD victories. Akerhielm began the weekend by hitting .588 with 10 kills, four blocks and two service aces versus URI. She followed with a career-high nine blocks to go along with eight kills while hitting .412 versus Fordham.

FLETEMIER NAMED CVU.COM NATIONAL PLAYER OF THE WEEK Redshirt freshman Lindsay Fletemier was named the CVU.com National Player of the Week on Nov. 7 after taking home her fifth A-10 Rookie of the Week honor two days earlier. Fletemier, who was also named A-10 Rookie of the Week on Aug. 27, Sept. 10, Sept. 17 and Oct. 15, recorded 18.0 total blocks and tied for the team lead with 4.11 kpg and 5.11 ppg in wins over Wright State, Youngstown State and Cleveland State.

FLYERS PICKED TO FINISH IN TOP TIER OF ATLANTIC 10 The Flyer volleyball team was picked to finish second in the Atlantic 10 West Division behind defending A-10 Champion Saint Louis. UD and SLU shared the A-10 Regular Season crown last year with the Billikens edging the Flyers in the A-10 Championship Match. Dayton won its fourth straight A-10 Regular Season title this season with a 12-1 conference record.

DEFENDING THEIR TURF The Frericks Center has been a challenge for visitors over the past three seasons as Dayton holds a 50-10 (.833) record in the 5,000-seat venue since 2004, which is the third-largest volleyball only facility in the nation. The Flyers have won 32 of their last 37 home matches including a 13-4 mark in 2006. UD was 10-0 at home this season.

FLYERS SEEING 20-20 UD has won at least 20 matches in each of the last seven seasons. The Flyers have also posted 13 consecutive winning seasons (including 2007) and have more wins in the last five seasons (127) than any other five-year period in its Division I history. 2007 is the eighth straight 20-win season for Tim Horsmon in nine years as a collegiate head coach.

FLYERS WIN A-10 WEST DIVISION AGAIN Dayton won its fourth consecutive A-10 Regular Season title this season with a 12-1 conference record to take home the 2007 A-10 West Division Championship. UD also won the 2004 A-10 Regular Season as well as the 2005 and 2006 West Division Championships. Overall, the Flyers have taken home six regular season championships as they were also crowned 1998 and 2001 A-10 Regular Season Champs.

DEFENSE WINS CHAMPIONSHIPS Dayton has won 97 of 116 games played by holding its opponents to a .143 combined hitting percentage. The Flyer front line has recorded 301.5 blocks (2.60 bpg) while the back row has tallied 17.59 digs per game and has allowed just 118 service aces to the opposition (1.03 service aces per game allowed).

BUILDING BLOCKS UD enters the weekend with 301.5 team blocks, which is only 6.5 out of 10th place all-time. The Flyers have also averaged 2.60 blocks per game to tie for the 10th best mark in school history.

CAN YOU DIG IT? The Flyers have tallied 2,040 digs as a team this season, which is the sixth most in school history and is only 106 shy of moving all the way up to fourth place (2,146) all-time entering this weekend's action. UD averaged 17.59 digs per game, which is good for the second best mark in program history.

EFFICENT OFFENSE The Flyers have hit .243 as a team to build a 32-1 record in which 20 of the victories have came by 3-0 sweep. Redshirt junior Erin Schroeder has paced the UD offense with 12.06 assists per game and a season-high of 62 assists against Saint Louis on Sept. 21. Dayton has recorded kills on 1399 of 3269 (.428) balls set by Schroeder this season.

SERVING SENSATION UD has used the serve as an offensive weapon throughout the 2007 season. Dayton tallied 231 service aces (1.99 sapg) this year, which tied for the seventh best mark in Flyer history. UD had just 192 service aces all of last year. The UD program record for service aces in a single-season is 410 for a team. Senior Jamie-Lee Richards has 62 service aces in 2007 after recording just 31 all of last year.

UD - AN NCAA TOURNAMENT REGULAR After being shutout for its first 33 seasons as a program, Dayton is making its fourth NCAA Tournament appearance in the last five seasons. The Flyers advanced to the Second Round in 2003 with a stunning five-game upset of host Michigan State before falling to perennial power Nebraska. In 2004, UD fell to Ohio State in a First Round match in Columbus, Ohio. Last year, UD nearly came back from down 0-2 to upset #11 Notre Dame before falling in five games during the NCAA First Round in South Bend.

STRENGTH IN NUMBERS After fielding one of the largest rosters in the country during the 2005 campaign with 17 active players, Dayton has "trimmed" its roster to 15 players. The group consists of three seniors, five juniors, one sophomore and six freshmen.

TOTALLY TIM Head Coach Tim Horsmon has won 127 matches in five years at Dayton. Each of his first three seasons resulted in A-10 Tournament Championships and NCAA Tournament berths while last season he guided the Flyers to the Atlantic 10 Championship Match. He has had an average record of 24-10 at Dayton. In fact Horsmon, who also spent four years at Robert Morris, is 17-1 in conference tournaments with seven championships and seven NCAA Tournament berths in as many seasons to begin his collegiate coaching career - the best start in NCAA history. He is making his eighth NCAA Tournament appearance in his nine-year collegiate coaching career overall this season.

Tim Horsmon - THE NEW MR. OCTOBER UD has made its mark in the Atlantic 10 standings during the month of October under the direction of fourth-year Head Coach Tim Horsmon. Since Horsmon took over at UD in 2003, the Flyers have gone 39-5 during the month of October including a 7-2 mark in 2006. Dayton finished 7-1 in October 2003 and 9-1 in October 2004 before putting together a perfect 9-0 month of October 2005 in the midst of a 19-match winning streak. During October 2007, UD was 7-1.

RALLY CAPS Persistence paid off for the Flyers in a five-game win over Saint Louis on Sept. 21. In a match that took two hours and 37 minutes to complete in front of the second largest crowd in school history, Dayton came back from a 1-2 deficit to beat Saint Louis in five games. UD completed the comeback by winning a fifth-game rally that saw the ball cross the net 29 times. The point took over 90 seconds to complete and brought the crowd of 1,225 fans to its feet at Frericks Center.

STRENGTH OF SCHEDULE The Flyers faced a pair of teams that were highly rated in the CSTV/AVCA Top 25 Preseason Coaches Poll this season. UD defeated preseason-#13 Purdue and preseason-#21 Utah on the second weekend of the season, which marked just the second time in school history that the Flyers faced ranked teams in back-to-back regular season matches. UD faced perhaps the most challenging schedule in program history in 2006. Dayton's schedule contained five members of the CSTV/AVCA Top 25 Preseason Coaches Poll as well as three others which recieved votes.

RECORD CROWDS FILL FRERICKS CENTER The largest home crowd in UD volleyball history packed into Frericks Center on Nov. 8, 2007 to watch Dayton defeat Xavier, 3-0. An announced attendance of 1,838 cheered on the Flyers, which marked the largest crowd to witness a UD volleyball match at the venue, which was the former home to UD basketball (1951-1969). Dayton led the Atlantic 10 in overall (8,137) attendance this season while averaging 814 fans for 10 home matches. Last season, 8,199 fans saw UD play 17 home matches for an average attendance of 482 per match that also led the Atlantic 10 Conference.

UD GOES INTERNATIONAL Several different Flyers have had the opportunity to play volleyball outside of campus over the past two offseasons. Erin Schroeder and Lindsay Fletemier played for the first American collegiate team to win the Sibillini Tournament in Italy. Schroeder was named Tournament MVP while Fletemier was also honored for her play for the Americans. During the Spring of 2006, five members of the Flyer volleyball team took part in open tryouts for the US Volleyball program at the US Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colo. Bethany Akerhielm, Faye Barhorst, Adrienne Green, Robynne Green and Jamie-Lee Richards were part of a select group of collegiate players to tryout for the US National Teams. As a result, Barhorst represented the A2 National Team at the USA Open National Championships in New Orleans. Akerhielm traveled with the US All True Freshman Team on an 11-day tour of Argentina.

AKERHIELM HONORED AT MORTAR BOARD PREMIER Junior Bethany Akerhielm was named MVP of the Mortar Board Premier after leading UD to wins over #17 Purdue, Utah and North Carolina. Overall this season, the A-10 First Team selection leads the Flyers in blocks (1.18 bpg) while ranking second in hitting percentage (.349) and third in kills (2.67 kpg).

JAMIE-LEE PROVIDES OFFENSE FOR UD Senior outside hitter Jamie-Lee Richards has been Dayton's offensive leader this season with 3.93 kills per game and 62 service aces. The 2006 & 2007 A-10 First Team selection has played in every match over the past three seasons and was named the A-10 Player of the Week on Oct. 14, 2006. She joined the 1,000 Kill Club on Oct. 12 against GW.

ADRIENNE ENTERS THE RECORD BOOKS Senior libero Adrienne Green entered her final collegiate season as Dayton's all-time leader in career digs. Now with 2,043 career digs, Green ranks 18th all-time in NCAA all-time history. She is also 19th in NCAA history with 4.43 career digs per game. Green posted 439 digs as a freshman followed by 532 as a sophomore and 541 as a junior. She has 531 digs so far this season entering this weekend's action.

SCHROEDER MAKES HER MARK Redshirt junior Erin Schroeder enters this week's play only six assists shy of becoming the fourth player in UD history to reach the 3,000 assist plateau. She is 257 shy of moving into third place in UD's career record book (Ali Hayes 3,251, 2000-03). She is also more than 80% of the way to becoming just the second player in Flyer history to record both 1,000 career assists and 1,000 career digs. Schroeder, a former defensive specialist, now has 871 digs and 2,994 assists. The 2006 A-10 Setter of the Year was named the MVP of the season-opening Dayton Flyer Classic and was awarded All-Tournament honors at the Mortar Board Premier. She was also named to the A-10 Second Team and A-10 All-Championship Team this season.

ROBYNNE MOVES UP THE CHARTS Senior Robynne Green is in fourth place on the all-time list for block assists at UD with 324. She is also sixth on the UD career list for solo blocks with 69. Green surpassed the 1,000-kill plateau at Dayton on Oct. 13 versus Charlotte. She has hit at a .270 clip, which ranks as eighth best all-time in Flyer career history. She was selected to the 2004 and 2005 A-10 Second Team as well as the 2003 A-10 All-Rookie squad while earning a spot on the A-10 All-Championship Team all three of those seasons.

MARTEN A FRESH FACE IN THE LINEUP Freshman Yvonne Marten has played in every match this season and ranks third on the team in blocks and fifth in kills. She has 22 multi-block matches this season and has recorded double digits in kills eight times.

FLETEMIER A PRESENCE AT THE NET Redshirt freshman Lindsay Fletemier was named A-10 Rookie of the Week four times this season and leads the team in hitting percentage (.360) while ranking second in blocks (1.08 bpg) and kills (3.07 kpg). The 2007 A-10 Rookie of the Year recorded a kill on the her first attack attempt during the first point of her career. Fletemier has recorded 10 kills or more 17 times and has 29 multi-block performances. CHRISTOFF CLEANS UP THE BACK ROW Chelsy Christoff is the lone sophomore on the Flyer roster and has been key to a Dayton defense that has held the opposition to a .143 team hitting percentage. She has 10 double-digit dig matches and is fourth on the squad in digs overall (2.27 dpg). Christoff has also recorded 38 service aces, which is the second most on the squad.

NORRIS A WELCOME RETURN TO THE LINEUP After missing most of 2006 due to a preseason injury, junior Kortney Norris is second on the team in digs this season at 2.65 dpg. She is also among the Flyer leaders in kills (2.10 kpg) and blocks (0.33 bpg). Norris was named to the All-Tournament Team at the Mortar Board Premier.

FLYER STUDENT-ATHLETES SHINE IN 2007 GSR REPORT The University of Dayton had nine sport programs record a perfect 100 percent Graduation Success Rate in the latest GSR Report released by the NCAA on Oct. 3. All 15 of the programs that were included in the report ranked above their respective national averages. According to the 2007 NCAA Graduation Success Rate (GSR) Report released on Oct. 3, UD graduated 100 percent of its student-athletes that participated in women's basketball, men's cross country, women's cross country/track & field, women's golf, women's rowing, women's soccer, men's tennis, women's tennis and volleyball.

FOLLOW UD VOLLEYBALL ONLINE Fans can follow the action of Dayton volleyball throughout the year at www.DaytonFlyers.com. The official online host of Flyer volleyball is home to rosters, statistics and game recaps. Fans can also follow each Flyer home match and selected road contests with GameTracker. Also, six regular-season matches will feature FREE live video streaming. Dayton's scheduled broadcasts include the Aug. 25 match vs. Illinois, Sep. 4 vs. Cincinnati, Sep. 21 vs. Saint Louis, Oct. 12 vs. George Washington, Oct. 13 vs. Charlotte and Nov. 8 vs. Xavier.

GETTING A HEAD START The Dayton Flyer volleyball team closed out preseason camp with a hard-fought, 3-1 (18-30, 30-27, 30-28, 30-24) victory in its third annual Alumnae Match on Aug. 18 at the UD Athletics Practice Facility. UD's current squad was tested by an Alumnae group that included the winners of the last four Atlantic 10 Player of the Year awards. The Alumnae Team was also bolstered by the 2005 A-10 Setter of the Year, a pair of two-time A-10 First Teamers, the UD record holder for digs in a single-season and two others that helped the Flyers upset Michigan State in the First Round of the 2004 NCAA Tournament.

UD WINS SEASON-OPENING FLYER CLASSIC Dayton began its season with three wins at its own Dayton Flyer Classic on Aug. 24 & 25. The Flyers swept IPFW and defeated Bowling Green in four games before securing a come back win over Illinois in five games. UD faced a Fighting Illini match point in game four down 27-29 and rebounded to win 31-29 behind two straight service aces from Jamie-Lee Richards. Erin Schroeder was named Tournament MVP while Jamie-Lee Richards and Lindsay Fletemier earned All-Tournament honors.

FLYERS TAKE TITLE AT MORTAR BOARD PREMIER The Flyers pushed their record to 6-0 by taking home the title at the Mortar Board Premier in West Lafayette, IN. Dayton opened with a three-game sweep of #17 Purdue, which was the highest ranked team ever defeated by the Flyers. UD also beat Utah and North Carolina in back-to-back five-game matches on Saturday. Bethany Akerhielm was named the Mortar Board Premier MVP while Kortney Norris and Erin Schroeder joined Akerhielm on the All-Tourney Team.

DAYTON DECLAWS THE BEARCATS AT FRERICKS CENTER Homestanding Dayton showed why it deserved its newly earned No. 23 national ranking with a 3-0 (30-25, 30-17, 30-14) victory over Cincinnati in non-conference action at Frericks Center on Tuesday. Jamie-Lee Richards led a dominating Flyer offensive attack by hitting .521 with 13 kills, two service aces and two blocks.

FLYERS WIN CHAMPIONSHIP AT BLACK AND GOLD CHALLENGE No. 23 Dayton improved to10-0 following wins over host Wake Forest, Jacksonville and Radford at the Black and Gold Challenge on Sept. 7 & 8. All 15 Flyers saw action in both matches on Saturday with a majority of the time going to the freshmen class. Becky Novacek was selected as the Tournament MVP while Tiffany Gaerke was named to the All-Tournament team.

UD SWEEPS TOWSON INVITATIONAL No. 21 Dayton improved to 13-0 with a trio of three-game sweeps at the Towson Invitational. UD beat Western Kentucky, UMBC and host Towson as Jamie-Lee Richards was named Tournament MVP. Erin Schroeder and Bethany Akerhielm also took home All-Tourney awards for the Flyers.

DAYTON DOMINATED THE ATLANTIC 10 CONFERENCE UD had a 12-1 record in Atlantic 10 Conference play this season. During conference play, Jamie-Lee Richards led the team with 3.98 kpg and 23 service aces. Fellow senior Adrienne Green paced the back row defense with 5.21 dpg while the trio of Bethany Akerhielm (1.30 bpg), Yvonne Marten (0.79 bpg) and Lindsay Fletemier (1.05 bpg) dominated in the front row. Erin Schroeder dished out 11.84 apg while the Flyers out hit the opposition .261 to .132.