Dayton volleyball starts 2023 season with victory over top-25 team

“We’re hoping it’s not 94 the night before and the heat gets trapped in there,” Horsmon said.

Horsmon credited Scott DeBolt, who runs UD Arena, the Frericks Center and all UD’s athletic facilities, and his staff for keeping the floor in good shape for the season-opening Flyer Invitational last weekend. Dayton beat No. 24 Western Kentucky 3-0 on Friday before beating Drake 3-2 on Saturday morning and then losing 3-2 to No. 12 Marquette on Saturday night.

All in all, it was a successful opening tournament for the Flyers, especially coming on the heels of a 20-14 season that saw the program’s four-year run of Atlantic 10 Conference tournament championships and NCAA tournament appearances end.

“Last year obviously was a pretty tough year for us,” Horsmon said Monday,”and we had a lot of obstacles and adversity with injuries and other things that were happening. I wasn’t quite sure what we were going to see (on the opening weekend), and I thought our kids really competed. So I was really excited. It’s fun to watch them play. They played with a lot of heart and grit.”

Dayton beat Western Kentucky 25-20, 25-11, 25-16. The Hilltoppers were 29-4 last season.

Dayton overcame a 2-1 deficit to beat Drake, winning the final set 15-11.

Against Marquette, Dayton faced its own 2-1 deficit but forced a fifth set, where it fell behind 14-8 before rallying to tie the match with six straight points. Marquette, which lost 3-1 to Western Kentucky on Friday morning and beat Drake 3-2 on Friday afternoon, scored the last two points to clinch the victory.

Amelia Moore, a redshirt senior middle blocker, led the team with 16 blocks in the three matches. She was an All-A-10 first-team selection last season when she ranked 13th in the nation with 169 blocks.

“(Moore) is just a consistent force for us whether on offense or as a blocker but 100% as a leader,” Horsmon said, “and she understands what being a Dayton Flyer is about and the expectations. She’s played on some really, really great teams here. We love to have her and her maturity.”

Lexie Almodovar, a redshirt junior outsider hitter and libero, is Dayton’s other return A-10 first-team selection. She led the team with 57 kills in the opening matches and had 32 against Marquette.

“She had probably one of the best matches I’ve seen from an outside hitter in a big moment like that,” Horsmon said.

A newcomer to watch for Dayton is freshman libero/outside hitter Gaby Arroyo, of Miami, Fla. She’s the daughter of a former NBA player, Carlos Arroyo.

“She played three rotations in the back row for us,” Horsmon said. “I love who she is and how she plays. She brings us stability. She’s a confident kid, and I think you’re going to see some great matches from her as her career moves on.”

Dayton was picked to finish second in the A-10 this season behind Loyola Chicago, which won the league championship in its first season as an A-10 member. Dayton has won five of the last 10 regular-season championships and seven of the last 10 A-10 tournaments. Its 20-win 2023 season was its lowest win total since Horsmon returned to the program in 2014.

“I don’t know how we managed the adversity last year,” Horsmon said. “We got to the (A-10) finals with that group, but never really jived throughout the season. I definitely feel like coming out of that they felt we had something to prove in the spring and in the summer, and I thought we were really intentional about what we needed to work on in the spring. We got better there. We got healthier there. And I think our girls did a good job this summer being committed and working out with coach (Mark) Thobe in the weight room.”

Dayton’s season continues with six more non-conference matches at the Frericks Center before it goes on the road for the first time in mid-September. It plays Butler and Ohio on Saturday in the Dayton Flyer Classic.

Dayton’s season continues with six more non-conference matches at the Frericks Center before it goes on the road for the first time in mid-September. It plays Butler and Ohio on Saturday in the Dayton Flyer Classic.

“I told them this weekend we can be pretty scary if this team finds confidence and belief,” Horsman said. “Last year they probably came out of that a little rattled coming from a program that’s done a lot of big things. This weekend maybe confirmed a little bit or affirmed that they can play at a really high level. We played together. We were tough. I’m hoping they got some some confidence that they can play against the best teams in the country.”