Xavier University Athletics
Xavier University
Dayton
Musketeers Suffer First A-10 Loss to Dayton
10.07.05 | Volleyball
Oct. 7, 2005
CINCINNATI - In a thrilling five-game match, Xavier suffered its first Atlantic 10 loss to Dayton on Friday night at Cintas Center. The Flyers took the match with scores of 22-30, 32-30, 25-30, 30-15 and 7-15. XU falls to 12-6 on the season and drop into a tie with UD at 4-1 in Atlantic 10 play, while Dayton improves to 10-9 on the year.
Game one found both teams play even until the score was 6-6. At that point, UD mounted an insurmountable 15-4 run and went on top 21-10. The teams would play back and forth for the remainder of the contest before UD finally claimed the victory. Juniors Astyn Bjorklund and Danielle Skrajewski each had four kills on the game, while senior Carley Horvath tallied seven digs.
The second game was tight from the start as six ties and three lead changes set the tempo. Dayton grabbed the opening lead of the game but Xavier responded to knot the score at 7-7 before taking a 13-9 advantage. With the score 22-16 in favor of the blue and white, the Flyers started the second surge and caught the Musketeers at 28-28. UD then regained the lead at 30-29 before a kill by Bjorklund and a UD attack error put Xavier up for good at 31-30. After a UD timeout, a block by Bjorklund and Horvath gave XU the second game and knotted the match at one game apiece.
The Flyers would respond in the third game and hold the lead throughout most of the game. With the score tied at 7-7, Dayton would take the next point and grab the lead for good. The Musketeers would close the gap to 23-20 but could not get any closer before UD ended the game and took the 2-1 advantage in the match. Senior Kate Duchek led the XU with three kills in the game, while classmate Jordan Brightwell had six digs.
Game four found Xavier come out on fire and take a quick 7-1 lead which included three kills by Duchek. XU would hold its largest lead of the game with the score 25-9 and finally ended the game with a kill by sophomore Jill Quayle. Skrajewski had four kills and five digs, while freshman Jenn Welsh posted seven digs and 10 assists in the win.
The deciding game five would not bode well for the home team as Dayton jumped out to 14-4 lead. With the score 2-2, the Flyers would dominate play at the net and outscored the Musketeers 12-2 over the next 14 points of the game. The burst would be too much for Xavier and Dayton would take the final game and the match. Only two players recorded a kill for Xavier in the final frame with Duchek and Horvath each notching one. Dayton ended the game with nine team kills and 15 digs compared to only two kills and six digs by XU.
The Musketeers had three players in double digit kills and four players with double digit digs on the evening. Duchek led the way with 15 kills and seven digs, while Bjorklund was next in line with 13 kills, eight blocks and five digs on the night. Skrajewski recorded her sixth double-double of the year as the junior ended with 12 kills and 14 digs. Defensively, Brightwell ended the night with a team-high 21 digs and was followed by Welsh with 20 and Horvath with 19. XU was just one dig shy of notching 100 digs on the match.
Xavier will return to action next Tuesday, October 11, playing host to No. 6 Louisville at Cintas Center. The match is schedule to get underway at 7:00 pm. Catch all of the live action on Gametracker at www.GOXAVIER.com.
