University of Massachusets Athletics
University of Massachusetts
Dayton
UMass Volleyball Drops To Dayton, 1-3
September 29, 2001 | Women's Volleyball
Sept. 29, 2001
Amherst, Mass.- The University of Massachusetts volleyball team lost to visiting University of Dayton, 1-3, this evening in Curry Hicks Cage. The loss drops the Minutewomen to 7-5 overall and 1-3 in Atlantic 10 play. The Flyers improve to 8-4 overall and 3-1 in A-10 action.
The Minutewomen hit for .429 in game one, committing only one attack error and taking advantage of seven Dayton service errors but still dropped the game, 27-30. Dayton took their biggest lead of the game at 16-12 before UMass rallied to even the score at 26-26. The Flyers then scored three consecutive kills followed by an UMass kill by Lymarie Llovet (Arecibo Puerto Rico) and the game winner by Dayton's Susan Westbrock. Dayton recorded 22 kills in the game to UMass' 13. Llovet led the Minutewomen with four kills while sophomore Nitia Small (Los Angeles, Calif.) added 3 of her team-high 17 kills in the game. Dayton's Christy Utnage and Katie Ferriell each recorded five kills.
Game two unfolded much like the first with the scoring margin tight as the score knotted at 17-17 after back-to-back block assists by senior Lauren Vander Veen (Oakland, Calif.) and junior Clare Baxter (Miami, Fla.). The score tied again at 20-20 and 24-24 before Dayton pulled ahead on kills by Utnage and Kelly Scott. Westbrock again scored the game winner at 30-28. Small added five kills in the game followed by senior Janeen DeMarte (El Paso, Texas) with four. Westbrock led the Flyers with four kills.
UMass battled back in game three, using a .341 hitting percentage to inch past the Flyers for the 30-28 win. Play was even throughout the match with the score tied at 27-27 and 28-28. The Minutewomen recorded the final two points of the game on a Dayton error and the game-winning kill by DeMarte. Llovet posted five kills in the win and DeMarte added four.
The Minutewomen trailed the Flyers throughout game four. UMass used six kills by Small to pull within two at 23-25 but were unable to take the lead. Dayton's Xinxin Zhang recorded three of her match-high 19 kills in the closing minutes of the game to give the Flyers the 30-25 edge. Junior Jitka Stehnova (Odolena Voda, Czech Republic) collected nine of her team-high 19 digs in the game.
UMass finished the match with three players posting double-digits kills, led by Small with 17, Llovet with 14 and DeMarte with 13. Stehnova collected 19 digs and Llovet chipped in 14 in the loss.
Zhang led Dayton with 19 kills while Ferrielle and Utnage added 17 and 13, respectively. Scott and Ferrielle led on defense, each recording 20 digs.
The Minutewomen hit the court again next weekend as they host Fordham on Friday, Oct. 5 and George Washington on Saturday, Oct. 6 at 7:00 p.m. at Curry Hicks Cage.
Box Score 1 2 3 4 Team Records Dayton 30 30 28 30 8-4, 3-1 Massachusetts 27 28 30 25 7-5, 1-3
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