Golden Eagles Pull Out Victory Over Dayton, 3-2

Sept. 19, 2009

ANN ARBOR, Mich. - The Marquette University women's volleyball squad closed out the Michigan Invitational Saturday afternoon with a big win over Dayton University, 3-2 (25-16, 17-25, 25-18, 21-25, 15-10).

"It was another big win for our program today," said head coach Bond Shymansky. "Overall it was such a tough weekend for us, but our team responded after being down on the front side of the weekend and that was great. We got balanced play from everybody on the court and I thought our team executed the game plan very well, which is a part of being a successful program."

Sophomore Ashley Beyer, who was named to the Michigan Invitational All-Tournament Team, led the Golden Eagles (10-4) with 19 kills and six digs, while Nikki Klingsporn recorded a double-double with 56 assists and 13 digs. Junior Rabbecka Gonyo also had 11 kills for the Golden Eagles and hit .474 in the match (11-2-19).

A Beyer kill to start the match was a precursor of things to come for the Golden Eagles as the sophomore led MU with five kills in the first. Ciara Jones also recorded five kills in the frame and Nikki Klingsporn added 13 assists for the Golden Eagles.

Marquette jumped out to a quick 3-0 lead in the first to set the pace for frame. With MU ahead 12-6, Dayton called its first timeout of the set and its second after MU extended its lead to seven, 19-12, on two-straight kills from Gonyo.

The second began with the Flyers pulling out to a quick 4-1 lead and forced MU into a timeout with the Golden Eagles trailing 9-4. The MU timeout was in the middle of an 8-1 Dayton run, which extended its lead to 13-5. Marquette would struggle to gain its footing before its second timeout, trailing 18-9. The Golden Eagles would respond to pull within six but that was as close as they would get, falling 25-17.

Just as it did in the first, MU jumped to a 3-0 lead on two kills from Beyer and one from Gonyo. A Dayton timeout with MU up 12-7 slowed down the Golden Eagles as it forced MU into a timeout with its lead cut to two, 15-13. Out of the pause in play, Beyer responded with another kill and three kills by redshirt freshman Holly Mertens down the stretch gave MU a 25-18 third-set victory.

Just as a Beyer kill gave the Golden Eagles the boost they needed to start the first and third sets, a kill to start the fourth made it look as though the Golden Eagles would close out the match in four. MU built 6-2 and 10-5 leads on Dayton before four quick points to pull the set within one, 10-9, forced an MU timeout. Kills by Jones and Beyer out of the timeout gave MU a 12-9 lead, but four straight from the Flyers gave them their first lead of the set at 13-12. The Flyers would go on to win the set 25-21.

Marquette built a 4-2 lead in the fifth, making Dayton use an early timeout and another with the score 11-7. The 11-7 lead was built on two-straight kills by Mertens, the last one on a huge rally which looked as if the Golden Eagles would lose. Out of the last UD timeout, the Flyers pulled with three at 11-8 but two more kills from Beyer and a final one by Jones gave MU the 15-10 win.

Dayton defeated Oregon State Friday morning in the Michigan Invitational, 3-2, after falling behind two sets to none. The Flyers also dropped a three-set match to No. 6 Michigan in the final match on Friday.

The Flyers entered the weekend two-spots outside of the AVCA Division I Coaches Top 25 Poll with 58 points.

Lindsay Fletemier led Dayton (10-2) with 20 kills in the match.

The Golden Eagles return to action Saturday at Pittsburgh at 1 p.m. CT before traveling to Morgantown, W. Va. to take on West Virginia on Sun., Sept. 27 at 1 p.m. CT.

All-Tournament Team

MVP - Rachel Rourke, Oregon State

Juliana Paz, Michigan

Lexi Zimmerman, Michigan

Lindsey Fletemier, Dayton

Lexie Rethgerber, Oregon State

Ashley Beyer, Marquette

Veronica Rood, Michigan