The Morehead State volleyball team won the back row battle Wednesday night against visiting Dayton, but the Flyers came out on top on the scoreboard, 3-0, in a non-conference matchup at Wetherby Gym. Dayton won 25-16, 25-20 and 25-23.
Dayton, which was receiving votes in the American Volleyball Coaches Association top-25 poll, improved to 23-1 on the year. The Eagles fell to 9-15.
Freshman libero Danielle McCarson and sophomore outside hitter Meredith Jewell each compiled 12 digs as the Eagles had 44 to the Flyers' 40. But Dayton hit .353 for the match and only had nine attack errors.
"I am never satisfied with a loss," said head coach Jaime Gordon. "But I was proud of the way we competed, and we had several nice individual efforts. I think we left some points out there that may have changed the outcome, and we didn't get some digs that I thought we should have. Dayton was pretty efficient, and it's rare that that a team will have so few attack errors like that."
Senior middle blocker Sydney Schuler led the Eagles with 10 kills, while Jewell added nine and senior setter Bailey Nichol totaled eight kills and 18 assists.
After the Flyers shot out to a 25-16 set-one victory, the hosts kept it close the remainder of the night. The third set featured 10 ties and six lead changes. The Eagles balanced their offensive output to the tune of 13 kills in sets two and three and 12 in the opening frame.
Jamie Peterson and Jessica Sloan each tallied match-high 12-kill nights to lead Dayton. Peterson finished with a .571 attack percentage with no errors.
Morehead State returns to Ohio Valley Conference action on Friday when Tennessee Tech visits for a 6 p.m. ET match. The contest can be seen live on the OVC Digital Network.