As the second week of the A10 season has UD on the road for two matches against VCU, we continue to look at this talented group of Flyers to evaluate if this team is better than last year. One of the first things you will notice at a Dayton Volleyball match is we have a lot of hitters that can score. At the top of that list you will find Outside Hitter Lexie Almodovar and Middle Hitter Liana Sarkissian. Both of these hitters are playing their best ball right now.

Lexie is in her final season and her career has been nothing short of amazing. Let’s start with she wasn’t supposed to be a hitter during her college career. Standing at 5’8” tall and playing for a Top 50 Division I program, Head Coach Tim Horsmon told us last year she was recruited as a Libero. That all changed the minute she stepped on campus with her jumping ability to touch over 10’ and an arm swing that I believe is the fastest ever for a Flyer. Arm swing speed creates velocity to crush a volleyball.

“Lexie has always hit the ball hard,” says Assistant Coach Timothy Balice. “In fact, she might be one of the hardest hitters Coach Horsmon has ever coached. With that being said, “hitting hard” is not her only shot albeit her most noticeable one. Lexie does a great job of hitting line…specifically, what we call a cross body shot. That’s where she opens up to the middle of the court but hits the ball across her body. is pretty darn legit!”

Lexie is currently hitting .299 as a 6-rotation left side OH. She hit .261 last year. As a point of reference, OHs don’t hit .300, especially those that play 6-rotations and swing out of the back row. Lexie gets all of what I call the “junk sets”. That’s no reflection on the setter’s ability. It’s the sets that everyone knows where the ball is going because the pass to the setter was so far out-of-system that the setter really only has one place to send the ball. When that happens, the defense is ready to stop the attack, making it very difficult for the hitter to score and in a lot of cases that swing will get blocked. And it’s even more rare when you are 5’8”. It simply defies all odds. And yet, she just keeps getting better.

“Lexie spent a lot of time (this past off-season) working on her off-speed game such as tips, throws, and rolls which has scored us more points as the season has progressed,” Balice shared.  “She is continuing to find ways to score when we are out of system.  Specifically, when she has two physical blockers in front of her.  She is working on scoring off of the block by hitting the edges and hands of the opponent blockers for points.”

As a 6-rotation player you have to do every skill in volleyball with maybe the exception of a lot of setting. Balice tells us Lexie has improved more than just her hitting.

“It’s also really important to note that Lexie was not able to practice with the team this spring because of her student teaching commitments,” he said. “She came in at separate times with our staff and really focused on her passing, defense, and blocking.”

Lexie is the reigning A10 POY and a HM All-American. She is better this season than last.

Junior Middle Blocker Liana Sarkissian is also having a huge breakout season. She played at the Opposite OH spot last season, to help the team. It was a new position she had to learn. She played well as a sophomore. But this off-season she moved back to the middle, her primary spot which she played in high school and she was recruited as a MB.

“With Liana moving back to the middle she and (setter) Alyssa have spent a lot of time on their connection. Specifically, the slide and the proper tempo that they want to run,” Balice explained. “Because of the various tempos and rhythms of our offense it takes a lot of time to calibrate what each attacker needs. They have spent a lot of time growing in this department.

“Liana is constantly working on her shot selection. One thing we have been working to develop and run more is a back quick attack. A quick set directly behind the setter,” Balice added. “Liana also has some great arm speed that scores us a lot of points.  I’d say that her signature shot would be running a front quick. We call it an ‘A’ and hitting that at some sharp angles.”

Liana is currently ranked #13 in the NATION with a hitting percentage of .449. She replaced graduate Amelia Moore who was an A10 First Team MB last year and is currently playing professionally in Europe. Moore hit .358 last season. Liana is proving to be a more versatile MB. Clearly a breakout season for Liana.

When you get into offensive systems and terminology, I have only a very limited level of knowledge as the game has advanced well beyond my time playing decades ago in high school. So I asked Coach Balice to provide a little insight – at a fan-level – to help us all learn a little more about the game.

“Each offensive system has different nomenclature to what they label each set within their offense. Some programs might call a high ball to the left side a ‘Go’ while some might call it a ‘Hut’…some might have a strictly numeric based system…or a combination of both. It really depends on the team, staff, and system” he shared.

“Generally speaking, left side attackers (Lexie and Taylor) will hit an in-system attack and an out-of-system attack from the left side of the net.  Specifically, for our system, our left side attackers can run three different tempos from the left side of the net.  That is a fast, medium, or slow set…we call those a “Black”, “Go”, and “Hut”, respectively.

“The same concept for the right side attackers (Brooke Smith). Both pin attackers (lefts and rights) can hit specialty routes that change netzones. For example, Lexie could run an inside route that is not all the way to the antenna called a “Rip” or she could hit a higher ball that is set in the middle netzone. All in all, we have 21 (different) sets.”

That’s above my pay-grade, but it’s good insight into how teams execute and the opportunities to get better. Setter Alyssa Miller, Outside Hitter Lexie and Middle Blocker Liana have all gotten better this season. Those three are a big part of our offense and why the Flyers rank 6th in the NATION in hitting percentage at .301. There are only 6 teams hitting above .300. It’s rare and probably the biggest improvement on this year’s team. We will look at the other hitters that are contributing to this year’s success in the next article.

Note: With the Tuesday match against Duquesne next week, there will be no Volleyball Flyby next week as the coaches prepare for the mid-week match and two weekend matches. See you in two weeks.