Raiders vs. University of Dayton Women’s Volleyball Game | Photo by Joseph Craven
Wright State University (WSU) volleyball faced off against the Dayton Flyers (UD) at the Gem City Jam Friday night bringing home the win after a five-set battle.
The Raiders were looking for revenge from last season, as the Flyers barely beat WSU in a match that went all five sets.
Senior Grace Hauck pulled out the match for WSU in the final set, finishing off their reverse sweep and giving them their revenge in an unbelievable comeback.
Dayton’s Early Dominance
The Raiders came to an early 6-3 lead in set one off of errors, but The Flyers bounced back with three in a row to make it 6-6. The UD offense started to get impatient, giving the Raiders the advantage 11-8 off of attacking errors.
The teams drew even later in the set 18-18, and it seemed like both teams would refuse to give an inch. Peterson had other plans, totaling four kills and a block for the Flyers as they went on a seven-point run, winning the set 25-18.
The Flyers were off to a strong start with kills from their entire offense, leading 6-2 early in the set. The Raiders punched back with four in a row, including two kills from Megan Alders, tying the set at 9-9.
UD opened the set with their biggest run of the night, scoring nine in a row for a 19-10 lead, as they looked to close out the set.
The Flyers’ offense continued to dominate, as errors for WSU would decide set two, with the Flyers winning big 25-13.
Raider resolve
WSU was far from done, starting set three determined to make a comeback. They took the lead early in the third set 9-5, off of a kill and a service ace from Ellee Ruskaup.
Errors for the Flyers continued to hurt them throughout the set, as WSU eventually led 17-9. However, UD found their groove once again, as six in a row brought the Flyers back into the set, 18-15. WSU’s lead was enough to win them set three, as an attack error from Peterson closed the set 25-18.
The Flyers worked hard for an early lead in set four, and back-to-back kills for Peterson giving them an 8-5 lead. Three kills in a row from the Raider hitters would give the Raiders a 13-11 advantage, and kills back and forth from both teams would keep the Raider lead at two.
Kills from Peterson and Almodovar tied the set at 17, and the teams would continue to go back and forth until a kill from Almodovar gave the Flyers the advantage at 22-20. The Raiders punched back to tie the set at 22, as they looked to force a deciding set five, and UD looked to close out the game.
Errors for the Flyers gave Wright State two in a row, just enough to close out set four 25-23 and take the match to a deciding set five.
Hauck Finishes the Flyers
The Flyers wanted revenge for the last two sets, and Peterson, Almodovar and Sandt started out fast, giving the flyers a 5-1 lead.
The Raiders fought back hard, with kills from Powers and back-to-back kills from Martin tying the set at 7-7, but the Flyers refused to let up, with more kills from Peterson and Almodovar giving UD the advantage 10-7.
A kill from Peterson and a block for the Flyers gave them Match Point at 14-12, and the Raiders needed something magical in order to pull back the game.
Peterson’s 27 kills throughout the match were just short of victory. With their opponents on match point, the Raiders scored four points in a row to finish their comeback. Their last three points were two blocks from Hauck, and a kill from her as well.
As the final kill made it through the UD block and hit the ground, the WSU bench swarmed the court around Hauck, with fans jumping up and down in the stands, as the Flyers looked on in disbelief.
