NCAA Rd 1 - Towson

[BeckysTXA]

Wed April 13th, 3:30 pm. Streaming on ESPN3.

Towson 6-0.
Dayton 13-1, 13-match win streak

They use a 7-player rotation. They are young and not very tall.

FR 6’0” OH Nino Cajic
FR 5’11” MB Aayinde Smith
SO 6’2” MB Lydia Wiers
SO L Asia Goins
JR 5’11” OH Emily Jarome
JR 5’11” OH Fay Bakodimou
JR 6’0” S Kristin Springler

[BeckysTXA]

Our last 3 NCAA opponents have been Marquette, Louisville and Pittsburg. Towson is an opportunity we should NOT overlook. NCAA wins have been hard to come by lately. (2015 we beat Villanova for the last win.)

Take care of business and beat Towson.

[udisit19]

I posted some info in the Bracket discussion, but it might be more relevant here.

Despite a short roster when it comes to height, Towson runs a very balanced offense. The 3 players with the most attack attempts are E. Jarome (28%), N. Cajic (24%), and Bakodimou (18%). That is more balanced that our attack. ( Peterson 30%, Almodovar 23%, Moore 14%) So while they may struggle to hit over a block, their strategy is spread the ball out and hope for a single block. And so far it is working. It's a small sample size, but they are undefeated. And it is not like they haven't gone against some size. Both James Madison and Northeastern have players measuring 6'3".

Towson also does something that seems fairly unique. They player taking the 2nd most sets is the Opposite or RS hitter. At first I thought, Nina Cajic was an OH, but that is not the case. She has started all 6 matches as an Opposite. So not only is the offense balanced, Towson is really trying to set each pin fairly equally. It does look like Wright State may have done this a little. Wright State's RS, Celia Powers, has taken 19% of the Raiders attempts. 19% is high, but still far behind 24% of attempts.

[udisit19]

Dayton, does seem to have the qualities they need to win this type of match. Dayton has shown a strong serving game. Dayton has 3 players with more than 0.35 aces per set and one player with more than 0.6 aces per set. That is strong serve and one UD has not had in the past. UD will need to force Towson into poor passes that make the offense a little more predictable. If Towson is allowed to distribute the ball equally, the Tigers will get late blocks and single blocks to hit against.

Dayton also has some length that other teams do not. Peterson at 6'4", Amelia at 6'5" and Yates at 6'6" could either help Dayton block this balanced offense, or at least cause problems for these hitters.

[Glen Clark]

Originally Posted by BeckysTXA Wed April 13th, 3:30 pm. Streaming on ESPN3. . . .

Pretty sure April 13 is a Tuesday

_____________________
Whether your glass is half full or half empty, you still have more to drink

[Lifelong Flyer Fan]

They play the first round match on Wed. April 14.

[BeckysTXA]

Teams are going to start arriving in Omaha as early as Sun the 11th so they can get tested and acclimated to the venue which will be multiple courts set up in a big a I think they have 3 of these big rooms.

This is very similar to how club tournaments are run so except for any foreign players, the gals will be familiar with other matches going on right next to them. I DI not know if they will have dividers/screens between the court. They usually don’t at the club level. But this is the NCAAs and stray balls could be an issue affecting another match. I guess one more COVID adjustment for these athletes and coaches.

I don’t know when the Flyers arrive. The ncaa picks up the tab, so they might travel tomorrow. It would not surprise me if the NCAA staggers arrivals so they can administer the tests once a team arrives. It will be a lot easier due to a lot less teams starting in Round 3 - Sweet 16.

[Lifelong Flyer Fan]

I read somewhere they were heading out on the 11th
Posted via Mobile Device

[BeckysTXA]

MATCH DAY! This program is all about winning Championships and NCAA matches. Time to rack up another NCAA win this afternoon. You have to factor in Towson’s competition when you look at their stats. It’s no different than when we play a BIG10 team, except we are the team you discount the stats in that case.

Towson block stats are solid, but they haven’t faced a team with the vast number of hitters that can terminate at a high level. We have the following players hitting over .300 - Laney, Amelia, JPete, & Molly (a back up who played 50% of our sets). Lexie is terminating around .240, which is solid for a freshman right side OH. Then you add in a setter who also hits .368 and is obviously sending the ball to the open hitters a lot. This is the first time I can remember any Dayton team having more than 2-3 players hitting above .300 ever in the same year. We have FIVE this season.

Towson runs a fast offense and likes to set their MBs with the quick, low shoot set. It’s very hard to stop. We run that play too. But many passes Aren’t good enough to run that play. So you run it when you can and go elsewhere with the set when you can’t. This is where we are so much better than Towson. We have so many other hitter options that can terminate at a high level.

Towson is going to score points because they run the fast offense and our block will get caught flat-footed on some points. Our block won’t be able to close the gap fast enough on some plays. But we are a solid blocking team too, so we’re going to get blocks and stop a lot of attacks. Plus their hitters have never faced a team with our height. You don’t have to be super tall to be a good blocker. How this impacts the match however, it their hitter have not had the chance to practice how to adjust their shot angles to go over the block or tool the top of the hands at that height. That could “get in their heads” if we come out strong on the block early.

The other major factor is Serving. Best Flyer serving team ever. We don’t just have one good server, we have a bunch and everyone is pretty good. No cupcake servers in this group. When you get to this level of play, the serve and serve receive game is paramount. Lots of teams have a bunch of good hitters and a setter that can get the ball to the open hitter....if they get a decent pass from the backrow...so they can go anywhere with the ball. Our serving has caused havoc for every team we have played this season. It will again today. And we have gotten very good at being able to serve aggressive without giving up too many service errors. That’s powerful. It wasn’t always the case in past years.

I expect the Flyers to sweep today. I hope Towson plays their best match all year. We need to be pushed. We are still working to hit our peak. Go Flyers.

[BeckysTXA]

Both head coaches have Maryland roots. Both teams run fast offenses and like to shoot-set their MBs. After that we are probably pretty different.

[BeckysTXA]

Match hasn’t started yet and Towsons prematch broadcast hasn’t either. Must be running behind at the arena.

[BeckysTXA]

Match underway. 5-3 UD. Two blocks already for UD.

[BeckysTXA]

UD up 10-5. Timeout Towson. Lexie has 1 kill on 1 swing. JPete has 2 out of system swings and no kills. And we lead by 5. Diverse Offense.

[BeckysTXA]

17-9 UD. 2nd and last TO for a Towson. We have 3 blocks. They have 0. They are hitting -190. Our block is working even when we don’t get one. Only miss for us so far is we have I think 4-5 service errors. All but one has gone long which is adrenaline. We will calm down.

[maddog07]

Looks like a mis match early. If not for our service errors Towson would hardly score.
Posted via Mobile Device

[BeckysTXA]

They are playing in Creighton’s court, so they moved it across town and we were practicing on the court were playing on.

[BeckysTXA]

They finally got a block - Amelia on a slide. Then Bridget goes right back to her on another slide and she buries it for a pint. I love that.

24-15 UD. Close it our ladies.

[BeckysTXA]

UD wins set 1 25-15. Ive said it before, when you hold a team to 15 or less points in a set, you’ve dominated. And we had 7 service errors. 1 was in the net. 2 were wide. 4 were long. We can fix that.

[BeckysTXA]

We hit .478 as a team. Holy crap that’s unreal. Only that 1 hitting error when Amelia got blocked. We held them to negative .231. Our block is in their heads. Go Flyers.

[BeckysTXA]

UD up 8-6.Lexie has been real quite. That will change before we are done today. She still only has 2 swings.

[BeckysTXA]

Their stats are all wrong. They gave Lexie a kill and it was a JPete. They just gave JPete a service error and Ali Papesh was serving. She didn’t make an error. Towson got a kill. It’s a mess. This surprises me.

[BeckysTXA]

UD up 21-13. You want to cheat over to stop JPete...good game plan right up until we introduce you to the hitter who has the fastest swing on the team...#4 Lexie Almodovar. She’s got 6 kills now - 5 in this set although tone might have been JPetes if they haven’t corrected the stats.

[maddog07]

Our size is really causing Towson trouble.
Posted via Mobile Device

[BeckysTXA]

It was close early but in the end basically the same. We’ve got too many hitters and a setter that can get them the ball. Flyers win 25-16 to go up 2-0.

Get it done fast in the third and get out of the gym. We’ve got 6 blocks and got our hands on more balls. That’s 3.0 per set average. That’s what it takes to be Top 5 in the country in this stat. We will be there next year. We are #3 in aces per set this year, but not today. We will clean that up before we meet Washington.

[BeckysTXA]

Originally Posted by maddog07 Our size is really causing Towson trouble. Posted via Mobile Device

Yup. But we don’t have that advantage against Washington.

You could also say our short OH is really causing Towson trouble. She’s 5’8”.

Still hitting .412 as a team. Wow.

[udisit19]

So far so good. Our strengths have taken away their strengths. Towson has had lots of trouble controlling our aggressive serve. It has really slowed them down. And our tall physical block has caused them to have a lot of errors. Cajic and Bakidimou are really athletic, kinda like Lexie.
Posted via Mobile Device

[BeckysTXA]

JPete kill.
UD block.
JPete kill.

Bread and Butter to start the 3rd.

[udisit19]

And of course, the Dayton experience is helping too. We knew they were a young team and Dayton had much more experience. That youth really hurt them in that first set. They struggled to turn things around when it got bad.
Posted via Mobile Device

[BeckysTXA]

UD up 10-4. Too many hitters that can terminate.

Lexie - 8 kills (but one is JPetes)
Amelia - 7
JPete - 6
Laney - 5
Bridget - 4

You can’t spread the ball around any better than this.

[BeckysTXA]

Originally Posted by udisit19 And of course, the Dayton experience is helping too. We knew they were a young team and Dayton had much more experience. That youth really hurt them in that first set. They struggled to turn things around when it got bad. Posted via Mobile Device

I agree with this to some degree. But Towson went 29-3 last year and beat American in the first round. They are the only team that has players who have won an NCAA match. And we have 3 freshmen in our rotation.

[maddog07]

Time to warm up the bus!
Posted via Mobile Device

[BeckysTXA]

Done. On a kill from Freshman reserve Lindsay Winner. How fun for her.

[BeckysTXA]

We came down to earth a little that set - finishing with a team hitting % of .366. It’s still really outstanding, especially at this level. In the championship matches the teams hit in the mid-200 because the teams also have very good blocks and backrow defenses. Terminating you own Points are hard to come by when both teams are highly skilled.

[BeckysTXA]

Horsmon did a nice job getting reserve players into this match. Granted, it was never in doubt. But he didn’t have to do that. Everyone that wa# available got on the court.

[maddog07]

Originally Posted by BeckysTXA We came down to earth a little that set - finishing with a team hitting % of .366. It’s still really outstanding, especially at this level. In the championship matches the teams hit in the mid-200 because the teams also have very good blocks and backrow defenses. Terminating you own Points are hard to come by when both teams are highly skilled.

Towson’s level was not that highly skilled Towson would at best be a middle of the pack A10 team. We destroyed them. Almost 1/3 of their points came on our service errors.
Posted via Mobile Device

[Chris R]

I thought our receive was as good as Ive seen it all season. I can only think of one or two we may have boogered up and made more difficult. And one of the few things I thought Towson did was well serve -- especially the foreign girl as her jump serve was lethal -- but we managed to handle it extremely well. And BDoh was serving up excellent balls and spreading it around w/o being predictable.

When we struggle its usually on receive and we start chasing the game. Not today. Those receives were landing 3ft from the net right into BDoh's wheelhouse. When I watch the top teams this is what I noticed most -- most receives arent just received but received and placed in a pickle jar near the net. If we can receive like this vs Washington we could make it interesting.

Our height was in Towson's heads from the beginning. What we didnt block we altered and what we didn't alter we forced them to Plan B which they didnt really want anything to do with.

Tourneys are about matchups. I posted on Twitter that Horsmon (and Sheff) probably had 3-5 teams better than this from an intrinsic talent standpoint, but this squad might be better "built" to pull the venerable upset in round two we've been waiting 20 years to earn. We've had a Fletemier, but we have 3 tall trees up there at the net now. You need the tall timber to beat a program like Washington. You arent gonna do it with dinks and donks and sleight of hand and finesse. You gotta joust and outmuscle the opponent for points at the net.

A lot of times when you are trying to break through to a deeper NCAA tourney run, the teams you think should get you there -- or have the best chance to do so -- end up not making it happen, while the teams you believe are less talented on paper or with a lower ceiling end up actually punching through for your program. Many reasons for that. Again its about matchups but also about chemistry and momentum. And sometimes a team just puts it all together on a given day. Maybe this team is that team.

Biggest takeaway from today for me? The players looked like they were having the fun all season because they finally had their masks off in competition and could show their faces and emotion and share that passion with their teammates. Covered up, it felt much colder and less joyful. Not sure what the PAC12's protocols were this year regarding masks. I cant believe we asked VB players to wear them during competition. Imagine doing it in any other sport -- soccer, basketball, tennis etc -- that is also high in cardio and quick-twitch.

[BeckysTXA]

We won’t be intimidated by Washington. Too many p,Ayers on this team still that went Mano-Mano with them in Pittsburgh three years ago in a five set slugfest. And our freshmen don’t know any better...they just want to tee it up against anyone. I love that about Laney-Lexie-Anna. They are, “let’s go“ all the time.

We did serve receive extremely well today. We almost had a 1000% side out percentage in the first set. It was late in that set when Towson finally scored when they were serving. Before that we took the serve and score for the side out.

Our serve was good today, but it’s been a lot better. I expect they will do some serve work to polish that back up. It caused havoc for Towson. It will need to be stronger to throw Washington off.

We are only slightly taller than Washington in the trees and when you factor in Lexie and Bridget we are probably not as tall across the front. We will need every inch and we will need to play our best match. But after today it looks like we are on that path. Boy have we come a long way since that first match at SLU. I watched that match and Since Horsmon has come out and said they played bad, I’ll tell you what I thought. I didn’t just think, “This team isn’t any good and it should be great.” What I thought was...”What has happened to this storied program? Where is the fight? Where is the sense of urgency to get on a roll and play at a high level? Where is the leadership? Am I watching the demise of a great program?”

That’s really what I thought. We were playing so bad. So happy none of that matters today. This program is alive and kicking. Like Chris said, this team just might have the right mix of talent, chemistry and moxie to pull off the upset and advance to the Sweet 16. I was worried after that first match we didn’t have any fight. I’m not worried about that anymore. This team will come out fighting. Go Flyers.

[Chris R]

Today also reiterated for me that Lexie should have been A10 ROY. Most 5'8'' front row hitters simply aren't playing high-level D-I volleyball. They are low-level leagues or D-II or NAIA or whatever. Its like having a 5'10'' center on your basketball team. You may have the skills but being elite requires elite size and body type too. So you are gonna get passed over in recruiting simply because of that. All things being equal the top teams want the 6'4'' center with the same skills.

Moore has come a LOOOOOOONG way since first half of frosh season. Yates is doing what we thought. Lexie is there. Finally how about frosh Wuensch? She's started all season and has been basically placed in the Witness Protection Program. We never mention her. Social media never does. Write-ups never do. To me if you're never mentioned, you are typically just "TKB"ing your position without much fuss. Thats a compliment. Hopefully we can get Papesh back to her old healthy self, but the future is looking real good and Horsmon has to like the arc we're on right now.

[Columbia Blue]

Decisive 3-0 win over Towson. Get #6 Washington in Omaha on Thursday at 3:30.

https://daytonflyers.com/news/2021/4...er-towson.aspx

[BeckysTXA]

Rd 1 Upsets -

Morehead St knocks out Creighton 3-2
High Point knocks out UCF 3-2
COVID knocks out Rice, NC A&T advances

The team & staff have to remain committed to the protocols so no one tests positive. I’m sure the Rice situation sent shockwaves if reality thru the tournament teams. Rice was a strong team and capable of making a run.

[udisit19]

Dayton's win against Towson was their most convincing win ever in the NCAA tourney and only the 3rd time Dayton won a NCAA Tourney match in straight sets. UD's 25-15,16,16 win had a point differential of 28. In 2010, Dayton beat the Horizon League's Butler 25-17,23,11 with a point differential of 24. A win over Lipscomb at the end of the 2007 season could also be included in this discussion, but that match still used 30 point sets. So while Dayton bested Lipscomb with a difference of 29 in that match (30-17,25,19), the difference of 28 during 25 point sets a more convincing win.

Regarding wins over CAA competition, Dayton hasn't beat the eventual CAA champion since 2003. Dayton previously beat College of Charleston in 2018 (RPI 63). That CoC team finished in 3rd place with an 11-5 record. Dayton beat Northeastern in 2013 (RPI 78), who finished in 2nd place in the CAA. In 2011, Dayton beat 5th place James Madison (RPI 103). In 2010, Dayton beat CAA's 4th place VCU Rams(RPI 127). In 2008, Dayton beat 6th place Towson(RPI 174). In 2007, Dayton beat 9th place Towson(RPI 222). In 2003, Dayton beat a Towson team that went on to go 14-0 in the CAA. What I'm trying to say is while Dayton has had plenty of success against the CAA, it hasn't always been against their best. I do believe that was a quality win against Towson.

[BeckysTXA]

I received some messages from UDPride posters pre-match thinking Towson would be a tough match and stating they thought Towson was on par with VCU and SLU if they were in the A10. It’s so hard to tell when a team only played 6 matches, and even more difficult because it was like 3 matches, then a Covid pause and then 3 a month later.

So many player have gotten so much better during UD’s season...including JPete. Early in the season I didn’t think she was playing that great, meaning I thought she was better last year. I don’t think that today. She and everyone else just took their game to a new level during this season. And I think Jamie really stepped up in the leadership category as the season progressed. I think we were weak in leadership last year. We had good leaders on that team, but I think everyone was deferring to teammates in some leadership categories and in the end that made it watered down and weak. The leadership was just spread too thin. This year it’s very clear who is in charge...JPete, Bridget and Maura. And they all appear to be doing a great job.

We are also more talented this year and the talent is deep even tho three freshmen are in the rotation. That always helps.

And then there is the height factor. We will need every inch of it against Washington because overall, they are taller than us. And they are deep in talent. And they are older with only one freshman and loaded with seniors and juniors. We have to be fearless and bring it. That takes leadership and I like what we’ve got here and now. It’s going to be a battle and we have to stay focused and fearless and just keep coming in all aspects of the game no matter what happened on the last play.

Finally, everyone on this team now has one NCAA win, no more. I sure as heck hope we are super hungry for more. Just bring the pressure. Bring it. Bring it. And keep bringing it. Never let up. Our best match is yet to come. We played very well yesterday but our serve wasn’t great with all the service errors. Our block slipped some in the third set. Towson found ways to terminate much better in the third. We will need to clean some of that up today. The good news is it’s all within our control. In volleyball they say, “Clean up your side of the net.” We do that today and we will knock off Washington and make the Sweet 16.

[udisit19]

Becky I agree. While Dayton dominated Towson. I thought Dayton could still play better. You are right, there is definitely some room for improvement behind the service line. Dayton was aggressive, but had a lot of errors.

At times I gauge if there is room for improvement based on past experience. At times I gauge that on the teams body language. The body language of the team was that there was still room for improvement. Which is pretty scary, because they looked very good.