Dayton volleyball: Flyers beat South Carolina in first round of NCAA tournament

The Dayton Flyers volleyball team won a first-round match for the 11th time in 18 NCAA tournament appearances, beating South Carolina 25-20, 25-15, 24-26, 25-10 on Thursday at Baylor University’s Ferrell Center in Waco, Texas.

Dayton (30-2), the No. 5 seed in its corner of the bracket, will play No. 4 seed Baylor (23-7) in the second round at 8 p.m. Friday. Baylor beat Wofford 25-11, 25-11, 25-18 in the second match Thursday.

Baylor is ranked 16th in the American Volleyball Coaches Association Poll. Dayton is No. 23.

Dayton will seek its first second-round victory. It is 0-10 in the second round.

Baylor is 10-1 in NCAA tournament matches on its home court. It is 17-12 overall in the tournament. It lost to Kentucky in the second round at home in 2023. It last reached the third round in 2022. In 2019, Baylor advanced to the Final Four.

Last year, Dayton beat Pepperdine 3-2 in the first round and lost 3-1 to Washington State in the second round.

Against South Carolina (16-12), Dayton bounced back from a 3-0 loss to Loyola Chicago in the Atlantic 10 Conference tournament championship game at the Frericks Center on Nov. 24.

Lexie Almodovar led Dayton with 22 kills. Karissa Kaminski had 15 digs. Alyssa Miller had 38 assists.

The dance continues!#UDVB // #GoFlyers // #FlyerLegacy pic.twitter.com/ZFKQSoUhtv
— Dayton Volleyball (@DaytonVB) December 6, 2024

FLYIN' INTO THE NEXT ROUND ✈️

(5) @DaytonVB gets the win over South Carolina to advance to the second round!#NCAAWVB pic.twitter.com/d9zpdqNein
— NCAA Women's Volleyball (@NCAAVolleyball) December 6, 2024