Inside the steamy confines of the Frericks Center, a huge and raucous crowd lit up the cozy gym with Flyer fever as the volleyball team won their own tournament with a perfect 3-0 record after fending off match point in game four to earn the dramatic five-game victory over the Illinois Fighting Illini 30-28, 21-30, 23-30, 31-29, 15-7.

The Flyers got off to a strong start with Jamie-Lee-Richards blasting a pair of kills at the net. Freshman Lindsay Fletemier used her 6-6 frame to dunk a loose ball at the net while fellow freshman Yvonne Martin added a kill of her own. Tied at 10-10, the Flyers used solid service to force Illinois into playing a dangerous ball on their first touch. UD jumped into the lead by locking two kills at the net. After a mandatory water break to cope with the sweltering heat, Illinois slowly closed the gap with some monster kills to difficult parts of the court — including a couple that touched the line. Dayton got a break with a UI service error but returned the favor. Up 25-23, Yvonne Martin hit a terrific kill to keep momentum with the home team. The teams traded points after another Martin kill and Illinois hit a poor ball into the net while setting up a kill of their own. The Illini called a timeout with the Flyers up 28-24. Illinois responded with a kill and capitalized on a UD attacking error to cut the lead to two. A strong serve by UI made it 28-27 and the match was soon tied after another kill from help by strong Illinois service. Coach Tim Horsmon called a timeout to stop the momentum. Dayton won the next point with a kill the Illini couldn’t keep in play and then stuffed them at the net to win the first game 30-28. It was perfect execution out of the timeout and whatever was said made the difference to allow the Flyers to get ahead and take game one.

Game two started off with the two teams trading points. A service hit beyond the end line by the Flyers evened the match at 3-3, but Illinois hit a service over the endline on the next point to give the lead back to Dayton. More back and forth action tied the match at 5-5 until Bethany Akerhielm’s attacking error gave Illinois the lead. A second service error tied the match once again and both teams were searching for some consistency to string a few points together and take command. Illinois started to hit a better percentage and jumped out in front 10-8 just before an official’s timeout. The excellent hitting continued for Illinois and Dayton had a tough time making up the deficit. A well-timed block at the net increased the lead to five points and the Flyers were forced to burn a timeout. Dayton came out of the timeout well organized just as they did in the first game and won the next two points to trim the deficit, but Illinois earned them back on a kill and disorganized UD return effort. As the game wore on, Illinois could do no wrong, getting blocks at the net, digging balls out in the defensive half of the court, and striking kills when they needed it. The Flyers had trouble finding open spots in the Illinois defense, and when they didn’t, balls hit at opposing players were dealt with and turned into Illinois points. Double hits later on didn’t help the Flyers and it was quickly 22-14 in favor of Illinois before an Erin Schroeder kill stopped the bleeding. Dayton cut the lead to 24-19 on excellent service aces from Chelsy Christoff that caught Illinois napping and unfocused. Once again however, Illinois had tremendous digs on defense to push the lead back to a comfortable margin that got larger until the game was theirs 30-21. Game two came down to defense as Illinois was as sharp as nails while UD had trouble at the net and digging from behind the attacking line.

Dayton fell behind in game three early on. Illinois made a tremendous dive outside the court to keep a ball alive and eventually win the point to push the lead to 7-4. Still looking a half step slow, the Flyers were searching for a big play to re-energize the team and establish a rhythm on both offense and defense. Dayton went down 10-6 at the official’s timeout as Jamie-Lee Richards couldn’t keep a serve in play. Illinois continued to dominate at the net with solid blocks and kills to frustrate Horsmon’s team. It didn’t help that Illinois’ serving was extremely aggressive, making it tough for the Flyers to get a good first touch to set up a favorable kill at the net, but several service errors made up for it and helped Dayton stay within striking distance. A great save beyond the endline and a monster block at the net cut the Dayton deficit to just one as Illinois burned a timeout to regroup their team. Another Illinois block increased the lead to 15-13 until Robynne Green’s kill found the back of the court to cut it back to one. Two more stuffs at the net by Illinois increased their lead and seemed to underline the changing momentum of the match as they appeared quicker and more physical. Up 20-14, the Illini were helped by several illegal touches on the part of Dayton and cases where UD tried to get a bit cheeky with attempted tip winners that Illinois was much too quick for. After a Flyer timeout, Illinois dug out yet another Flyer kill and turned it into a point to go up 25-16. Another service error — Illinois’ eighth of the game — made it 25-17, but with almost half of UD’s points coming off of Illinois service errors, it was obvious UD needed to change their own tempo in order to re-gather themselves. Illinois finished the game out by a score of 30-23 to take a 2-1 lead in the match.

Back and forth action started game four with Illinois suffering from illegal hits while Dayton coughed up two early service errors. A service ace by Jamie-Lee Richards gave the Flyers the 6-5 lead, but another service error tied things up. Points traded hands for a while but it seemed like whenever UD was in position to win a point on a block, Illinois hit a clean kill or deflected it off the Flyer wall. Dayton collected a big block at the net that could have swung the momentum, but a long rally shortly thereafter went to Illinois and the visitors remained in front 17-16. Richards added a service ace and error, but a service error by Illinois made it 21-20. A favorable bounce at the net tied the match at 21 as UI called a timeout. Dayton went up 23-22 on another UI service error but an Illinois blast on the right corner tied things up again. Fletemier answered with a kill on the right side and the Flyers finally got a block at the net to jump ahead 25-23. Illinois answered with a kill and block of their own to make it 25 all, then UD mis-hit a first touch just over the net that Illinois knocked down to fall behind by one. A long rally forced a kill out of bounds by Illinois to tie it again but Illinois jumped back in front. The Flyers couldn’t keep a block in play and fell behind 28-26. UD called another timeout to re-group and find a way to win the game from behind. They won the first point out of the timeout to trim the deficit to one but Illinois knocked one to the open court to earn match point. A service error by Illinois made it 29-28 and Illini hit a kill out of bounds to tie the match at 29. Dayton then earned the next point to earn game point at 30-29 and the opportunity was there to get back into the match. Capping it off was a clean ace by Richards to complete the dramatic and somewhat improbable comeback after facing match point just moments earlier and suffering from shaky play until the last three or four points in the game.

With Dayton hitting a poor percentage over the second, third, and fourth games, the Flyers had to feel good about winning game four and taking momentum into the race to 15 points in the final frame. If they stepped it up and played like they did in game one, they had a great chance to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat, but Illinois’ overall play was better over the entire match and the Big10 opponent seemed to have more polish more often.

Dayton served first and took advantage of an errant kill by Illinois to take the 1-0 lead. Illinois got the next point on a kill and service ace to take the lead for the first time, but Richards answered to tie it up at 2-2. Dayton went ahead 3-2 on a UI hitting error but a UD service error made it 3-3 until a dink shot regained the Flyer lead. Fletemier hammered one home but Illinois earned the point back with a kill that deflected off the Flyer wall. The Illini earned a huge block at the net to take a 6-5 lead. Illinois almost dug out an improbable point, but Fletemier earned a point and then stuffed a ball at the net with the help of Yvonne Martin to give UD some momentum. Suddenly, UD was in much better form and earned a second block point before changing sides to finish up the match with an 8-6 lead. Freshman Rachael Broerman served a well-placed ball that Illinois couldn’t handle and Fletemier answered at the net on successive points to give UD a commanding 11-6 advantage. An apparent point went against UD on an illegal hit, but they cashed in on the next point to make it 12-7. The Flyers came up money at the net after a timeout to stuff Illinois and increase the lead. The broken record continued with more terrific blocking at the net to earn match point. Dayton sent Illinois packing on the succeeding point.

The match had a little bit of everything, but it showed that Dayton can find a way to win without playing their best ball. Game one was a solid effort, but the next three games were dominated in nearly all phases by Illinois. Service errors by the opposition kept UD in game four and some gritty play and excellent coaching from the sidelines forced the deciding game where Dayton steam-rolled with their best play of the match — and perhaps of the young season. UD’s net defense that seemed non-existent for the prior 90 minutes came alive and owned Illinois on all of the big points. It was a sandwich match with good stuff at the start and end with room for improvement throughout the middle, but it was a gut-check victory that says a lot about the program.

The Flyers got help from all over. Richards came up big when she needed to and looks to be the go-to player on the team. Schroeder racked up a bunch of assists while the freshman tandem of Fletemier and Martin practically won game five at the net with tremendous blocking. UD also made their game five move with fellow frosh Rachael Broerman serving difficult balls to the sidelines that forced Illinois to play a goofy first touch. Whereas last season was the Faye Barhorst national tour, this year’s team spreads the wealth and makes up for things with depth and experience.

The Flyers head to Purdue next weekend to take on the #13 Boilermakers, #21 Utah, and North Carolina.