Dayton Flies Past Volleyball in Five Sets

Tuesday, September 16

Dayton, Ohio

7:00 PM

Xavier University

6-4

Dayton

7-3

Xavier

Dayton

09.16.14 | Volleyball

Box Score

Sept. 16, 2014

Box Score | Box Score (PDF)

DAYTON, Ohio - The Xavier volleyball team lost to former Atlantic-10 foe Dayton, 3-2, at Frericks Center on Tuesday night. Sophomore Abbey Bessler tied her career-high in kills with 25 in match.

"This one hurts," said head coach Mike Johnson. "We were really sharp in the first set and weren't able to hold it. I credit our kids with battling back in the fourth set. Unfortunately, we gave it away in the fifth set with too many errors."

The fifth set had nine ties with neither team leading by more than two points. Dayton (7-3) had match point at 14-12, but the Musketeers (6-4) battled back to tie the set with a block from Alexis Newsome and Makayla Agin followed by a kill from Agin. The Flyers responded with a kill and service ace to win the set, 16-14.

Agin started off the first set with a thunderous kill as the Musketeers started the match on a 3-0 run. Xavier led by as many as 11 points in the set before pulling away to win, 25-14. XU has kept its opponent under 15 points in the first set twice this season.

The second set began with Xavier having a three-point advantage over Dayton again. The set was tied at six before Dayton took its first lead of the night, 12-11, on a kill from Isolde Hannan. From that point forward no team led by more than two points until Dayton pulled away on a 8-2 run to take the second set from Xavier, 25-19.

Set three went to Dayton, 25-16. The Flyers had the point advantage until 10-9 where Xavier took its first lead of the set on a Flyer attack error. It was another close point spread until 12-12 when the Flyers used another run, 13-4, to take the third set from the Musketeers.

The fourth set began like the previous two. Xavier gained it first lead of the set, 14-13, on a Bessler kill before Dayton quickly responded and did not let the Musketeers take the lead again until 20-19. Xavier's 5-3 run to close the set began with a huge block from Newsome followed by a service ace from Alex Blair that shifted the momentum in favor of the Musketeers to win the set, 25-22.

Smith dished out 39 assists while Jesse Earl and Bessler tallied 18 and 13 digs, respectively. Agin and Kristen Massa also put down eight kills each.

Xavier continues its three-game week against Lipscomb at Cintas Center on Friday, Sept. 19. First serve is 6:30 p.m.