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

The Dayton Flyers earned a No. 5 seed in their corner of the NCAA volleyball tournament bracket and will play South Carolina in the first round on Thursday on the campus of Baylor University in Waco, Texas.

The NCAA bracket was revealed Sunday night. Dayton will make its 18th tournament appearance and second in a row.

Dayton (29-2) will play No. 4 seed Baylor (22-7) or Wofford (23-8) in the second round Friday if it wins Thursday.

Dayton and South Carolina (16-11) will play for the first time since 2008. South Carolina beat Dayton 3-1 that season.

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Dayton is No. 23 in the American Volleyball Coaches Association Poll. Baylor is No. 18.

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

Dayton has a record of 10-17 in the tournament and has never advanced past the second round.

Dayton played at Michigan State in 2003 in its first appearance and has played at Ohio State (2004), Notre Dame (2005), Illinois (2009 and 2018), Texas A&M (2011), Oregon (2012), Penn State (2014, 2015 and 2016), Purdue (2019 and 2021), Nebraska (2020) and Washington State (2023). Dayton also played at home in 2007, 2008 and 2010.

Dayton enters the tournament after losing 3-0 to Loyola Chicago on Nov. 24 in the Atlantic 10 Conference championship game at the Frericks Center. Dayton saw a 22-match winning streak end.