Score: Dayton 3, VCU 2 (14-25, 25-21, 25-27, 25-19, 15-10)
Location: Dayton, OH (Frericks Center)
Records: VCU 12-11 (10-5 Atlantic 10), Dayton 20-6 (15-0 Atlantic 10)
The short story: Senior
Alicja Jaryszek led three Rams in double figure kills with 18 in a 3-2 loss at Dayton Friday night in the Buckeye State.
OPENING VOLLEY
- Elif Ozsoy led all players, recording 50 assists
- Kalina Pylinska and Julia Rienks each tallied 16 kills, with Pylinska adding a team-high 14 digs and Rienks contributing 11
- Nina Boledovicova notched two aces for the Black and Gold
- On the back line, graduate senior Haruka Sugimoto anchored the defense with 13 digs
- Kamryn Hunt led all players with 23 kills for the Flyers
THE DIFFERENCE
- The Rams came out strong, dominating the opening set 25-14 behind attacks from Jaryszek, Rienks, and Pylinska, jumping ahead early and never trailing
- VCU held a narrow lead midway through the second set, before a three-ace serving run by Dayton's Kamryn Hunt swung momentum as the Flyers evened the match 1-1
- The third set turned into a marathon with 11 ties and multiple lead changes. Timely kills from Pylinska and Jaryszek closed out a 27-25 win to give VCU a 2-1 edge
- Dayton responded in the fourth with a 9-1 run midway through the period, capitalizing on VCU attack errors to force a fifth set
- The Rams battled point-for-point early in the tiebreaker before Dayton pulled away late to seal the match 15-10. VCU hit .182 as a team while Dayton hit .196
NOTABLE
- VCU came close to snapping Dayton's Atlantic 10 regular-season winning streak, pushing the Flyers to five sets in a back-and-forth battle. With the win, Dayton extended its streak to 53 straight conference victories, having last fallen to Loyola Chicago on Nov. 5, 2022.
NEXT UP
The Rams will be back in action tomorrow, Nov. 8, for a rematch against Dayton at the Frericks Center.
