2019 Volleyball Preview & #12 Pittsburgh Exhibition

Sat Aug 24th/1 pm @ the Frericks Center

Dayton is very fortunate to have #12 Pittsburgh on its schedule, even as an exhibition match. When you see how tough the out-of-conference teams are starting next weekend, it will be crystal-clear why this match is so important. But I’m getting ahead of myself. So let’s take a closer look at Pitt and our recent history.

First, Pitt hired a great coach in Dan Fisher six years ago. He has done a masterful job of taking the Panther’s to national prominence. They won the ACC in 2017 and 2018. They were picked by the coaches to win again in 2020 with 13 of 14 first place votes. It was unanimous. Fisher can’t vote for his own team. Four of the 18 players on the preseason team are Panthers. (Sr RS Nika Markovic, Sr MB Layne Van Buskirk, R-Sr OH Stephanie Williams and Jr OH Kayla Lund.) Pitt graduated a great setter and libero from last year’s team, and based on early news reports coming out of camp these two will be hard to replace compounded by the fact the projected starting setter this year went down with an ACL last week.

In 2016 the Panthers secured an NCAA bid, their first since 2004. They were a young team that improved as the season progressed. Their NCAA first round opponent was Dayton, who at the time held a 4-2 winning record over Pitt. Dayton was the favorite but Fisher had his young squad playing well. They were led by ACC Setter of the Year Kamalani Akeo. Pitt defeated UD 3-1 at Penn State.

In 2017 Pitt visited the Frericks Center. Fisher now had a seasoned team with a very good setter and libero plus a group of talented young hitters. Pitt won 3-0.

Last year the Flyers and their 20th ranked freshman class with eight new players traveled to Pittsburgh to compete in one of the toughest pre-conference tournaments in the country. Pitt played Kennesaw State early on Friday and had a lengthy rest before meeting Dayton at 7 pm. Dayton teed up Washington (2018 final rank #18) at 1 pm and battled in the heat of Pitt’s arena to a 5-set loss. UD had only three hours to re-charge and prepare for the Panthers, who finished 2018 ranked #14. The arena was a sauna. UD started out strong winning the first set 25-20. In the second, UD had set-point at 25-24, but let it slip away 26-28. That changed the match. Pitt raised its game to the next level and UD had nothing left to respond. Pitt won 3-1 with UD subbing its bench heavily in the third and fourth sets. UD also had several injuries resulting in lack of experience at key positions while Pitt was at full strength. Frericks isn’t air conditioned, but all the other critical factors from last year’s match swing in Dayton’s favor this year. This will be a dog-fight that Dayton can win.

Pitt has played a 6-2 offense the last three years with recent graduate Kamalani Akeo sharing setting duties with R-Jr Kaylee Levers last year. Levers was going to be the starting setter this season before the ACL injury. Before that, the only question was if Pitt had a second setter ready so they could run a 6-2 offense again this season. Now Pitt is faced with little time to get 6’0” R-Fr S/RS Maddie Soboleski and/or 5’8” Fr S Lexis Akeo, ready. Akeo is the younger sister of last year’s setter Kamalani Akeo and as a #70 recruit in Pitt’s 19th ranked recruiting class. There is no double she will be good. But, at 5’8” it’s highly unlikely she will be able to lead a one-setter offense and play the three front row spots in the rotation. Opponent hitters will just hit over her block. So that leaves the challenge of getting two freshmen setters ready to play or changing their offense. I expected Pitt’s setter(s) to give our block and back row defense a challenge – which we need because blocking is one area the Flyers have to improve this season. Next week they go up against great setters and hitters. Pitt is still loaded with great hitters, but I expect the setter position to be a work-in-progress.

Pitt also graduated their Libero who played well against UD for three years. But, Fisher landed a transfer from Iowa State, Sr Hali Hillegas who was the 2017 Big 12 Libero of the Year. She has struggled early on in the transition to her new team, but has played well lately according to Fisher.

Both teams have elite-level hitters. Pitt will feature Lund (#55 recruit) at the OH1 position. She will take the most swings, however, all four preseason all-conference players are hitters. The X-factor for Pitt is they have foreign players that never got ranked as high school seniors. This includes Markovic and R-Jr OH Zoi Fake. Both played all five sets against Michigan in the second round of the NCAAs last year. Van Buskirk and Williams also went five sets as did Jr MB/RS Chinaza NDee (#80 recruit). Lund was out for the Michigan match, but is healthy now. All very talented and experienced hitters. It will be interesting to see how Pitt’s highly-ranked freshmen compete for playing time. The freshman class has two Top 100 hitters (#58 & #66). The class also has two foreign players.

Dayton returns its deepest team ever. We have three Top 100 recruits in #23 R-Jr S/RS Brooke Westbeld, #66 So OH Alli Papesh (2018 A-10 Rookie of the Year) and #73 R-So OH Jamie Peterson. All have A10 post-season credentials and will play key roles in leading this year’s team. All three will be in contention for A10 Player of the Year along with VCU’s Sr MB Jasmine Sneed. UD has never had three Top 100s in its starting rotation. But our real depth is in the seven Top 250 recruits that will fill out the rotation. It’s anticipated the Flyers will use a 6-2 offense again this year with Westbeld setting three rotations and hitting three rotations. She is a lethal triple-double threat after finishing second in the nation in this stat last year. Jr S Bridget Doherty will set the other three rotations. Doherty should be one of two or three non-ranked recruits in a rotation featuring nine or ten players. She has been great her first two years at UD. One advantage of a 6-2 offense is UD will always have three hitters across the front line.

So L/DS Maura Collins should take over the colored jersey and R-Fr MB Amelia Moore, who started the first ten matches last year before being sidelined, will secure one MB spot. Moore will compete for A10 Rookie of the Year honors. She led the team in blocks per set last season. She will need to continue that effort for Dayton’s block to improve. Moore has the potential to be an all-time great at UD. She participated by invitation in several USA Volleyball elite camps and teams as a prep player. UD has had some great MBs over the years, but no one comes close to Moore’s prep credentials. She was a big loss last year but now enters this season with experience in ten collegiate matches of which three were against 2018 ranked teams (#10 KY, #14 Pitt & #18 WA). Not many freshmen can say that. Here’s what prepvolleyball.com said about Moore coming out of high school:

“A blocking stalwart, Moore finds herself as one of the biggest sleeper middles in the Class of 2018...Moore’s physicality at 6-5 to go along with a 10-4 leap and a hammer of an arm adds a dimension that Flyer fans haven’t seen since three-time AVCA All-American Lindsay Fletemier donned the blue and red.”

Moore and Papesh headlined last year’s freshman class for Dayton that was ranked 20th. At the time daytonflyers.com quoted Head Coach Tim Horsmon as saying, “A number of these players are going to surprise people. I believe they are as talented and will be as impactful as many on the Top 100 prepvolleyball.com list. This group has as much talent and potential as any incoming class we’ve recruited in my 20 years of doing this.” Papesh and Moore did just that last year and they should be even more powerful this year.

This leaves an OH, one MB and a DS position or two to fill out the rotation. Sr OH/DS Jordan Albarran, So DS Carrisa Beyers and So DS Liz House should all see playing time at DS. Four Top 250s will complete for those two hitter slots - GR transfer MB Rachael Fara, Sr RS/MB Sierra Pla, So MB Molly Asmus and R-Fr OH Mikaylah VanLanen are at the top of the list. JUCO transfer Jr OH/RS Irina Alekseeva could also be in the mix, but it’s R-Jr MB Olivia Dubay and her blocking skills that are impressing Horsmon, as well as Pertsen’s.

“This pre-season we’ve focused on nailing down our blocking system and each individual’s responsibilities within that system,”Horsmon said. “Losing a left side blocker like Lauren Bruns is always tough to replace, but we feel like Jamie Peterson’s physicality could allow her to fill that role as a strong left side blocker for us. Olivia Dubay has the size and at almost 10’8” on her jump touch, she has the athleticism needed to block a lot of balls for us in the middle. She’s shown a lot of improvement as a blocker and in her understanding of our system, so I’m looking forward to seeing how she can contribute as a blocker for us this year.”

The Flyers will need to improve two other areas if they plan to return to the Top 25 - more aggressive serving and having one or two hitters who can play 6-rotations to deploy a back row attack. A back row attack is important because with a bad pass the setter has to move out of position to make the set (or a back row player has to execute the set). It’s difficult to set the middle blocker or the right-side OH when you are out-of-system. If you have no back row attack, the out-of-system sets go to your right side OH. Everyone on the defense knows this before it happens and sets their block and defense accordingly. When you are out-of-system, having two hitter options (back row attacker plus the left OH) keeps the blockers and back row defenders guessing how to stop your offense.

Westbeld sets when she is in her three back row rotations, so she doesn’t count in the back row hitter math. Additionally, MBs don’t usually go 6 rotations so the options are the right and left side OHs. Peterson and Papesh played 6 rotations at the end of their freshman years and during spring season. If they can fill this need, Horsmon can go with his best hitters-blockers at the other two OH front row spots. If not, in the past, he has gone with the hitter who has the best serve receive-dig skills, even if they weren’t as strong as others when hitting from the front row. As much as fans like to see the powerful, talented hitters, it’s the ability to take a serve receive and deliver it perfectly to the setter that makes the offense successful.

“If everyone stays healthy and our outside hitters are able to score from the back row, I would expect us to use it as an offensive threat more often than last year,” he said. “the ability to pass and play defense take priority over our ability to attack in the back row, so it will also depend on the personnel that we feel will be the best fit back there.”

UD has ten players this year that were ranked recruits. Pitt has nine, with one out for the season. Pitt has more Top 100s – five versus UD’s three, but three of Pitt’s five are freshmen who may not play much. Pitt also has a couple foreign players that would have been ranked if they had played prep in the USA. UD counters with Pla who just missed being a Top 100, and was named a Top 125. Before Pitt’s setter went down, these two teams were even in elite-level talent. Now Dayton has a slight advantage. Pitt graduated their best setter and their Libero and clear replacements have not surfaced in pre-season. UD was not at full-strength when it played “even” with Pitt the first two sets last year. It will probably be hot again this year, but both teams will be fresh, unlike last year. Pitt is ranked #12. UD starts the year flying under the radar and received zero votes in the preseason poll. Yet this will be a match UD can win. It’s certainly not your average exhibition match.