Ohio victorious after intense competition with Dayton
A memorable match took place between Ohio and Dayton on Saturday night at the Frericks Center in the second round of the National Collegiate Athletic Association 2010 Volleyball Tournament. As 1410 spectators watched the match which went on till five sets
(22-25, 22-25, 25-17, 16-14), Ohio State finally emerged as victor by defeating the 13th-ranked Flyers.
Coach Geoff Carlston of Ohio State shared his feelings in the following words: “I remember thinking halfway through Game 4, ‘This is an awesome match,’. That’s the most intense match I’ve ever been a part of either as a player, 100 years ago, or as a coach.”
The loss put an end to a 23-match winning streak for Dayton that they had kept up since early September. It was also the first time that the Flyers lost in their home ground since 2007 that signified the end of a 25-match home winning streak. These were
among the top 5 longest winning streaks in the country.
Ohio State remained at the top of the game by winning the first two sets with the help of Katie Dull who pulled an ace and made 11 kills. The pressure was kept on the Flyers in the third set as well when Ohio took the lead of 7-4.
Head Coach Kelly Sheffield of Dayton called a time-out at this point in an effort to propel his team back into the game.
“I think it was about, ‘Are you going to swing or are you not going to swing,’” he said. “Our backs were against the ropes, and I wanted to know how we were going to respond.”
Dayton answered Sheffield’s call by turning the tables and taking a lead of 10-7 and went on to win the third set.
The fourth set was fierce, with each side putting up an intense fight. There were 5 lead changes and 16 ties between the Flyers and the Buckeyes. The game reached match point for the Bukeyes at 24-23 but Flyers middle blocker Becky Novacek brought it back
to even.
Dayton started the fifth set by taking an 11-8 lead after which Ohio called a time-out. This turned into their favor as they made a come back and got a 13-12 lead which the Flyers could not overtake. After that, Dayton could only manage two ties. The Buckeyes
got themselves a ticket to the NCAA regional tournament at UD Arena on Friday.
Coach Sheffield had the following comments on the outcome of the match: “It was very high level volleyball and I don’t think anyone on our team should hang their heads. I think competitors want to be in a match like that and unfortunately somebody has to
lose.”
Lindsay Fletemier of the Flyers played her last match by making 15 kills on a .522 hitting percentage and 6 block-assits. Other important Flyers players include Senoir Amanda Cowdrey who made 12 kills without an attacking error and 16 digs. This was the
second time this season that Cowdrey made kills without error.
Katie Dull was the star performer from Ohio State. She made 25 kills, the highest number in the match.
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