Aug. 31, 2007

Box Score

WEST LAFAYETTE, IN - Visiting Dayton grinded out one of the biggest wins in program history with a 3-0 (30-27, 30-24, 35-33) victory at #17 Purdue on Friday at the 2007 Mortar Board Premier. The win was the second over a ranked opponent for UD in as many seasons and the highest rated team ever defeated by the Flyers.

Dayton (4-0) hit just .156 as a team (to Purdue's .163), but hard play from all nine Flyers to take the court proved to be the difference as UD beat a Big Ten opponent in back-to-back matches for the first time in school history.

"When you look at tonight's match statistically we should not have won that in three," UD Head Coach Tim Horsmon said. "We should not have beaten Illinois last week either. What tonight shows me is that we are staying in games, we are grinding. We are playing with character and I think that is what we were missing last year."

The duo of Bethany Akerhielm and Kortney Norris stepped up late in the match for the Flyers and finished among the UD leaders on the night overall while playing less than 35 miles away from their respective hometowns. Akerhielm, a Carmel , Ind. native, hit .333 in the match with 10 kills and four blocks while Norris, an Indianapolis native, finished with 13 digs, three blocks, six kills and a service ace.

"Bethany (Akerhielm) had a huge match and she really turned things around in game three. She had a couple of big blocks on their big hitter and we need her to do that. Kortney had some big plays and Jamie-Lee put away some balls for us tonight. We are just fighting through things right now. It was a really good effort, BUT tomorrow is another day. We really are working on not looking back. We are not going to be satisfied with this. We have two tough opponents tomorrow in Utah and North Carolina . We don't want to walk out of this having a good match tonight and then not coming in and playing sharp volleyball tomorrow."

Current A-10 Rookie of the Week Lindsay Fletemier led all players with 14 kills while hitting at a .417 clip. She was followed by senior Jamie-Lee Richards who posted 13 kills of her own.

Defensively, UD was led by Erin Schroeder who had 16 digs to go along with 39 assists and a match-high three service aces. Senior libero Adrienne Green added 15 digs for the Flyers who only allowed the Boilermakers to surpass the .200 mark in hitting percentage in the final game.

The match began in Purdue's favor as Dayton quickly fell behind, 7-14. UD got back into the match with an an 8-1 rally ignited by Lindsay Fletemier that evened the score at 15-all. Fletemier had two kills on overpasses by Purdue during the stretch to go along with a pair of kills from Jamie-Lee Richards and a service ace by Adrienne Green.

UD finally took its first lead at 18-17 following a long rally that was terminated with a kill down the left line by Kortney Norris. The Dayton advantage would build to as large as five at 22-18, but a late Purdue push would pull the home team to within a pair at 25-23 and force a Flyer timeout.

Purdue would eventually even the count at 26-all, but Flyer would bounce back with a pair of kills from the middle of the court by Lindsay Fletemier and Jamie-Lee Richards. After a Purdue error gave UD game point, the Flyers finally took the opening game, 30-27 as they fought their way through a long rally that ended with another kill in the middle of the court by Bethany Akerhielm.

Jamie-Lee Richards and Lindsay Fletemier led the Flyer offense through a slowly-played first game for both teams. Richards had five kills while Fletemier added four as UD out hit PU .133 to .106 in game one.

Dayton nearly led from wire to wire in game two as the Flyer tallied kills on eight of their first 20 attempts. With the UD advantage at 16-11, Erin Schroeder headed to the service line and blasted a service ace into the back, left corner of the Purdue defense. Schroeder's run at the service line would continue following a Boilermaker timeout and build the Dayton advantage to 19-11.

A late push by Purdue pulled the Boilers to within three at 25-22, but the Flyers would bounce right back on back-to-back kills by Bethany Akerhielm to regain the momentum and eventually win the game, 30-24. Akerhielm finished the second game with five kills on just nine swings while assisting on one of Dayton 's two blocks. Jamie-Lee Richards added five kills of her own while the Flyer defense was anchored by six digs each from Kortney Norris and Erin Schroeder. UD's shot selection improved dramatically from the first game to the second as the Flyer out hit the Boilermakers .263 to .163.

Game three was back and forth to start until a Lindsay Fletemier kill from the right side started a 4-0 Flyer flash that put UD ahead, 10-7. Purdue worked its way back into the game and evened the score at 14-all to start another seesaw portion of the action. The Boilermakers finally gained a bit of an edge after two consecutive blocks gave them a 21-19 lead. However, UD quickly came back with three of the next four to even the ledger again at 22-22.

Purdue recovered its lead with a pair of kills and a service ace to take a 26-23 lead. Bethany Akerhielm stopped the charge with a kill through the middle of a Boiler block. A Purdue hitting error followed to bring the Flyers within one at 26-25.

After the Boilermakers got one back, the longest rally of the match went to the Flyers as Lindsay Fletemier tipped a ball off the top of the Purdue defense to make it a 26-27 UD deficit. A Fletemier solo block off an overpass and a service ace in the middle of the floor by Kortney Norris put Dayton ahead 28-27.

Purdue stopped the rally for a moment, but a kill by Fletemier gave UD its first match point at 29-28. The home team fought off the Flyers four times before finally earning a game point of its own at 33-32. Akerhielm dumped a ball into the back corner to keep the play alive at 33-all. Then Yvonne Marten and Fletemier gave UD its fifth game point with a block on the right side of the Flyer defense. Dayton finally finished off its biggest win in school history with a kill by Fletemier to take game three 35-33 and the match 3-0.

The Tournament sponsor, Mortar Board, Inc., is a national honor society that recognizes college seniors for distinguished ability and achievement in scholarship, leadership and service. In conjunction with the founding principles of Mortar Board, Inc. student-athletes from all four participating teams were honored for their scholarship and service accomplishments at the end of their respective match on Friday evening. Mandy Robbe was recognized as UD's Top Scholar, while Erin Schroeder took home Most Improved Scholar honors and Bethany Akerhielm was given the Community Service award.

Dayton continues play at the Mortar Board Premier on Saturday with matches against Utah (Noon ET) and North Carolina (5 p.m. ET). Both matches can be followed with Gametracker at www.DaytonFlyers.com.