Penn State Match

[UDBrian]

What a collosal challenge and opportunity for UD today. Penn State is once again a top contender for the national championship. There would be no shame in losing this match but winning it would be a huge step for the entire program.

It is pretty obvious that UD cannot make mistakes in this match. If anyone on the team is having a weak game PSU will go after them relentlessly.

In her previous two seasons I felt that Alaina struggled playing back to back matches but didn't get that feeling this year. After 75 swings last night this is a physical test for her in particular. She will be facing a very good blocking team with height that she normally doesn't hit against.

It is pretty simple that when you play a match like this you simply need to do your best on every single play and immediately forget a bad play. If you make PSU earn every single point there is always a chance to win

[jack72]

Dayton site is not showing video. Anyone know if it will be on>

[ud69]

Originally Posted by jack72 Dayton site is not showing video. Anyone know if it will be on>

Try this

http://www.btn2go.com/game/ncaa-2nd-...nn-st-12062014

[BeckysTXA]

The fact that we have a "Penn State Match" thread this year is just awesome. Dayton has never been afraid to schedule as tough as it can, whenever it can. With the coaching change last spring, the schedule was put together late and there weren't a lot of options left. But it served us well and now we are playing the defending National Champions. I couldn't be more proud or happier for this group of young women.

Bring your best shot and let the chips fall where they fall tonight. You are all champions this year and you will have memories of one heck of a great run and friendships to last a lifetime.

GO FLYERS!

[NovaFlyer]

score?

[UDBrian]

18-12 psu haven't played as well in the last eight points They are having trouble with serve receive. You cannot play out of system and give a team like psu free balls

[BeckysTXA]

PSU takes set 1 24-20. We ended strong and need to keep bringing it. No blocks but that doesn't surprise me. PSU is huge upfront and can just hit over you. Back row holding our own. We hit mid .200 -- and that is great against PSU. However they hit over .400. We are holding our own. Will need to get Alaina going.

[jack72]

Very impressed with our performance so far. We did not come in awe and are playing our normal game. The next important thing is we keep our confidence up and do not let their big hitters get to us.

7-7 in the second set

[UDBrian]

Hancock has one of the fastest serves in the country and she is killing them. 25-20 psu in set one. They forced Rose to call a time out after running off six in a row I think

[BeckysTXA]

Psu up 15-11 in 2nd.

[jack72]

PSU up 18-13. They have had 3 bad serves. Thank you very much.

[BeckysTXA]

18-13 PSU. TO UD. We aren't playing bad. Just too much talent on the other side of the net. Their MB Washington is like 6'7" and she can touch 11'. PUS has two players that can touch 11'. That's not a typo -- it's 11'.

[BeckysTXA]

21-15 PSU. TO UD. We are hanging with them and I like that. It says a lot. The entire PSU stating line up is Top 100 recruits and many of them are Top 20 recruits including Washington who was #1 I believe. We have ONE Top 100 recruit on our team. Also like we are getting block touches this set. Not getting blocks but I like we are getting our hands on their attacks.

[jack72]

Originally Posted by UDBrian Hancock has one of the fastest serves in the country and she is killing them. 25-20 psu in set one. They forced Rose to call a time out after running off six in a row I think

Amen, that is incredible to see that speed.

[jack72]

25-18 psu

[BeckysTXA]

PSU takes 2nd 25-18. Like I said above, we are getting our hands on to be honest, a lot of their attacks. If we can get our block going, we could turn the tide in the 3rd. We need to continue to play and stay in the match. We are playing one of the top 4-5 teams that can win the Championship this year and we aren't getting blown off the court. If we can find one more gear, we could win the 3rd set. Just STAY IN THE MATCH and good things could happen.

[BeckysTXA]

Originally Posted by UDBrian Hancock has one of the fastest serves in the country and she is killing them. 25-20 psu in set one. They forced Rose to call a time out after running off six in a row I think

Hancock ran off 9 straight points with several aces last week to start the first set against Nebraska. It's an amazing serve, but all things considered I think we are doing as well as any team against it.

[UDBrian]

I would always prefer to return a top spin serve over a great floater. But, Hancock hits the ball so much harder than anyone UD has faced this year it presents a major problem.

[ud69]

In looking at the stats - the blocking by both teams is virtually non-existent.

[NovaFlyer]

Down 2-0 but playing our hearts out. PSU is good...

[BeckysTXA]

PSU 6-1. TO UD. @ aces in there. Need to regroup and stay in it.

[BeckysTXA]

15-9 PSU. TO UD. Hancock is serving - last several point. But no aces -- but we can't get a good swing off her.

[BeckysTXA]

PSU takes it 25-16. I was hoping we could score 18 or more each set against them. Came close. In the end, we had an awesome season and can't wait until spring. Congrats ladies and job well done.

[jack72]

Great stride for next year and for the program!!

[NovaFlyer]

Wow, PSU is really good. Proud of this team from UD.

[College B-Ball Fan]

Excellant effort and lots to build on for next season! Congrat's to the team and coaches!

[UDBrian]

Penn State has won 47 straight sets, no embarrassment felt.

It was obvious UD had to play nearly perfect to win the match but they made PSU play.

I don't think Penn State is a great defensive team which is their only weakness if you consider it a weakness. They are definite contenders for the championship

[BeckysTXA]

This is a nice stat. We hit .217 against PSU. For the season, they have held their opponents to an average hitting percentage of .138. I think Dayton's performance is pretty impressive when you consider how many freshmen we have in the rotation and that PSU plays in one of the top conferences with a lot of great teams.

[UDBrian]

I thought that all of the hitters played smart and without fear.

[Chris R]

PSU had 9 service errors for 9 free points, which is a lot for 3 sets. We also had 9 receive errors. The difference in the match was more pronounced than the final score probably indicates. We were fighting 2-3 classes above our weight class tonight. The players arent dumb they know the reality too. UD or American had 1 NCAA win on the table in the bracket and we got it -- we went as far as the talent could take us. You cant squeeze any more juice from this orange than what we did based on the talent at the moment. When PSU hits a ball, they put holes in the playing surface.

The last 3 matches we won this year were by far our best three victories of the season, beating a 22 win, 23 win, and 26 win team in succession.

Use the offseason to get stronger physically, groom the younger players, and as Horsmon says "recruit daily or perish."

[NJFlyr71]

Considering where the program was this time last year and the change in staff and # of freshmen in rotation .....

Extremely satisfying for the program and the women should feel good on what they have accomplished.

They should also realize that next year as they continue to work and grow they will help keep this program and themselves in fine shape!

Go Flyers!

Now enjoy you success!

[Figgie123]

So, take UD's set scores of 20, 18 and 16, and UD had 54 points.

Only 14 out of 34 games did Penn State allow at least that many points.

In 6 of those 14 games, the opposing team won at least 1 set. (Including American, whose losing set scores were 8, 14, and 16.)

So, Penn State only had 8 other opponents who they swept who had better point totals than UD did yesterday. Michigan, Northwestern (twice), Michigan State, UCLA, Wisconsin, Kansas, and Minnesota.

Not too shabby!

[UACFlyer]

Originally Posted by UDBrian Penn State has won 47 straight sets, no embarrassment felt. It was obvious UD had to play nearly perfect to win the match but they made PSU play. I don't think Penn State is a great defensive team which is their only weakness if you consider it a weakness. They are definite contenders for the championship

Forty seven straight sets......fifteen straght shut-outs. Amazing.

[udisit19]

For perspective, the Penn State program hasn't lost a set in the first two rounds of the NCAA tournament since 2003. No shame in struggling against Penn State basically everyone does. I didn't see the Penn State match but did see the American match. Like Becky said we hit .217. That is only a little less than we hit against American. Definitely a positive to take from the game. The offense was fairly effective.

The win over American was big. that was a good team with some very effective attackers from both the front and back rows. Dayton's first ever NCAA tourney game against the Patriot league champ ends with a victory. It also looks like the first time Dayton won in less than 5 sets on a neutral court in the NCAA tourney. In 2003 Dayton beat Michigan St. 3-2(@Nebraska), in 2009 Dayton beat Wisconsin-Milwaukee 3-2 (@Illinois), and in 2012 Dayton beat Pepperdine 3-2 (@Oregon). Also worth noting, Dayton just beat the best program in the DC/Baltimore region. UD now has a nice recruiting advantage over the region our head Coach Tim Horsmon is from and just recently coached in. That can't be bad.

All in all great season for the Flyers. I don't think we have ever seen such a big improvement from one year to the next. Congrats to Horsmon and the entire Dayton Flyers team. A lot to be happy about now and a lot to look forward to in the near future. Go Flyers!
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[udisit19]

Not much of a consolation, but when Dayton won their 9th A-10 tourney title this year they surpassed Penn States total of 8 A-10 tourney titles. Dayton now is the sole leader in A-10 tourney titles. Penn State may have won the 2014 second round NCAA tourney match, but they are now 2nd place in the A-10 history books.
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[BeckysTXA]

PSU just bounced #12 seed UCLA out in a sweep. Scores were 26-16-19. UCLA scored 61 points against PSU. Dayton scored 54 points against PSU last weekend. At this time of year, I think a match against UCLA would have been a good one. Also is a prime example of how important it is to be good enough to get a seed in the tournament, something we can look forward to in years to come. It's hard to imagine another year where a team will improve as much as we did this year. But, with this coaching staff I'm confident we will improved every year.

[BeckysTXA]

While I was looking at the box score to get our scores for the post above, I noticed Jess Sloan's numbers for the PSU match. WOW! Jess took 11 swings -- all from the back row -- against PSU and hit .364.

I remember during the match thinking Alaina might be hitting better from the back row against PSU than from the front row. Mostly because PSU is a great blocking team and they had a 4-5" advantage over Alaina at the net. That thought plus looking at Jess' stats sure looks like a back row attack might be a key to beating PSU.

Great match Jess!

[UDBrian]

I agree and thought Jess played without fear. The last weekend when playing right side she pounded one at the ten foot line which had the coaches celebrating. She seems to just be getting comfortable and that is a good sign for next season

[NJFlyr71]

UDB

I agree and thought Jesus played without fear.

Yep! I'm sure he does!

We woulda won if he roamed the back row. Just sayin'!

[UDBrian]

Originally Posted by NJFlyr71 UDB Yep! I'm sure he does! We woulda won if he roamed the back row. Just sayin'!

Lol. That should teach me to stop posting from my phone but alas it probably won't.