The 49ers fell in the A-10 Semifinals to No. 1 Dayton on Friday. |
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Top Seeded Dayton Ends Charlotte's Season in A-10 Semifinals
Nov. 18, 2005
Kingston, R.I. - Dayton advanced to the Atlantic 10 Volleyball Championship match by defeating the Charlotte 49ers 3-1 on Friday at the University of Rhode Island's Keaney Gymnasium. The Flyers took the match by scores of 30-25, 25-30, 30-19 and 30-28 to earn the right to play for their third straight league title.
Charlotte (17-16) had been the only A-10 team to defeat the Flyers in the regular season, winning a 3-2 decision at Dayton in their first league match on Sept. 23.
But Dayton (22-9) had not lost a match since that night, and extended their winning streak to 17 in a row with the win. They will face the winner of the Temple vs. Xavier match tomorrow night at 7:00.
Junior Jessica Oldenburg and sophomore Alma Arroyo each killed 17 balls to lead the 49ers, while senior Abbey Szlanfucht had a double-double with 14 kills and 10 digs in her final match as a Niner.
Senior Lisa Newell had eight kills, four service aces and three block assists in her final match. Robin Joseph had five kills and four blocks.
The Niners and Flyers actually had the same number of kills - 64 - but Dayton out-blocked Charlotte 14 to 8.5.
The deciding game was knotted at 27-27 after a kill by Oldenburg, but Dayton would take the next two points on successive kills by Robynne Green.
With the Flyers on match point, the 49ers called a time out, and made it 29-28 when Jamie-Lee Richards' dump attempt sailed out over the back line. But Dayton would win the final point on a kill by Kortney Norris.
In game one, the score was tied 14-14 before a 6-0 Flyers run put them ahead for good. Down 27-20, the Niners fought back with three straight points. Charlotte would also hold off two game points before Dayton sealed a 30-25 win.
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The 49ers shrugged off the game one loss and took the second game by a 30-25 score to tie the match. The team jumped out to a 14-8 lead early, and would hold a three- to five-point edge for most of the game.
Dayton fought back to make the score 26-25 with five straight points, but the 49ers then scored four straight on kills by Szlanfucht and Newell, a Newell ace, and a block by Robin Joseph and Alma Arroyo.
Dayton came out of the intermission playing well, and earned a 30-19 win. The 49ers would get as close as 16-13, but Dayton pulled away with 14 of the game's last 20 points.
"That's why Dayton is so good, they never give up," said 49ers head coach Lisa Marston. "They played great, kept the pressure on us. We had opportunities but they just out-executed us tonight."
It was the first-ever Atlantic 10 Conference Championship appearance for the 49ers and their highest tournament seeding in more than 10 years. The Niners finished second in the East Division in their inaugural campaign in the league.
