Pepperdine (NCAA First Round)

[udisit19]

The Dayton Flyers and Pepperdine Wave will meet for the second time this year in the First Round of the NCAA tournament. The first match between these two occurred in the first weekend of the season. Both teams looked at the match as a chance to play good competition for improvement and a chance to get a good win for their resume towards an NCAA tournament birth. Now that the goal of reaching the tournament has been achieved by both teams, they will now meet in a one-and-done setting for the likely opportunity to play Oregon. Dayton has a 1-2 record against Pepperdine all time.

As far as the A-10 in the NCAA tournament, no A-10 team has ever gotten an NCAA tournament victory over a team west of the Mississippi. If Dayton can beat Pepperdine it will be the first such victory. Here is the A-10's 0-11 record:

1985 RI loses to Colorado St. in 3
1991 RI loses to Stanford in 3
1993 GW loses to Long Beach St. in 3
1994 GW loses to Nebraska in 3
1995 GW loses to Texas in 3
1996 RI loses to Arkansas in 5
1998 TEM loses to Texas A&M in 4
1999 TEM loses to Baylor in 4
2003 DAY loses to Nebraska in 3
2007 XAV loses to Cal Poly in 3
2009 SLU loses to Wichita State in 4

Pepperdine has the advantage of seeing more teams in the NCAA. They were in the very strong WCC conference and played 16 matches against teams in the NCAA with a 6-10 record. Dayton only played 6 matches against NCAA teams and went 2-4. Pepperdine won all 3 of those matches against NCAA tournament opponents that were played on a neutral court (New Mexico State, Ohio State, and Florida State).

Despite Dayton's much higher Pablo ranking (15 compared to Pepperdine's 43), it looks like Dayton will have their hands full. Dayton needs to get out to a quick start to remind Pepperdine just how good they can be. Pepperdine's big two neutral court victories against Ohio State and Florida State were 3-0 sweeps. They took momentum in a neutral setting and did not let go of it.

Go Flyers!

[BeckysTXA]

I've been watching several match tonight and I'm seeing a lot of double/illegal touch calls. In 3 sets they have already called 6 in the Louisville/Belmont match.

[Figgie123]

Just a statistical FYI...

Rachel Krabacher is 41 attempts shy of tying Carrie Cordonnier for First Place in career attempts.

[UDBrian]

Originally Posted by BeckysTXA I've been watching several match tonight and I'm seeing a lot of double/illegal touch calls. In 3 sets they have already called 6 in the Louisville/Belmont match.

In most matches I have attended there are a couple of blatent double touches on sets that are not called and a few more that you wonder about. It seems that a non setter can make a questionable set and they get called but setters are rarely called. My niece can spot the missed calls too...

UDISIT19'S great post makes flyer fans nervous...

[UDBrian]

Bad start 7-3 pep

[UDBrian]

First time I have listened to Shayne White this year, he has improved. He now knows enough to make you easily understand what happens point to point.

I am concerned when he says that dayton is not passing the ball well.

16-7 bad girls

You cannot let a team hit .371 and expect to win, pepperdine had four aces in set 1

[Glen Clark]

1st set: 25-15 Pepperdine

___________________
Whether your glass is half empty or half full, you still have more to drink.

[Avid Flyer]

Originally Posted by UDBrian First time I have listened to Shayne White this year, he has improved. He now knows enough to make you easily understand what happens point to point. I am concerned when he says that dayton is not passing the ball well. 16-7 bad girls You cannot let a team hit .371 and expect to win, pepperdine had four aces in set 1

Not just the passing, their communication is bad also. They are not prepared for this match.

[jack72]

This is a replay of Kansas State. We are so soft on our kills and serves compared to Pepperdine it is going to be a long night.

[BeckysTXA]

Not that this matters...just an observation...it looks like Pepperdine is foot faulting and it's not being called??? I need to know if your foot can touch the line but not go over??? That might be what I'm seeing. Their good OH Orozoco seems to be doing it a lot.

[BeckysTXA]

Also, another observation...most of the team appears to be wearing Kacie Hausfeld ribbons. Purple was her favorite color and some are wearing white ribbons with purple printing -- it says KJH #14 (Kacie's initials and old #).

[BeckysTXA]

Final observation, it so often comes down to serve and serve receive. We are getting beat with so-so passes off Pepperdine's serve and our serve isn't causing any trouble for Pepperdine. We also have to get our block going.

[UDBrian]

Originally Posted by BeckysTXA Not that this matters...just an observation...it looks like Pepperdine is foot faulting and it's not being called??? I need to know if your foot can touch the line but not go over??? That might be what I'm seeing. Their good OH Orozoco seems to be doing it a lot.

You were right, here is the rule

At the moment of service or take-off for a service that involves a jump, you must not touch the court, including the end line.

[BeckysTXA]

There were foot faults not called in the first 2 sets them.

Our block has come alive and we are serving better -- more agressive. they aren't passing as well off our serve.

Shayne and Kray are playing really well. Jill Loiars has done a nice job in a touch spot too.

[Avid Flyer]

Kray was called for that very infraction/

[BeckysTXA]

I think this TO is about 2 points too late. We needed to stop their run.

[UDBrian]

Originally Posted by BeckysTXA I think this TO is about 2 points too late. We needed to stop their run.

Yeah, when you have control of the set you want to do anything possible to keep that control

[Figgie123]

Good call by Sheff to switch Loiars in for Turner. Too many errors for Alaina, and Jill is doing a great job on the outside.

[BeckysTXA]

Good 2nd time out coach!

[Figgie123]

Shayne is doing great too. She is so fired up on that court.

[BeckysTXA]

We've got to jump on them in Set 4.

Shayne and Kray are putting this team on their backs and swinging really well. Shayne hard and Kray really smart with lots of variety of shots. Sam also knows who to go to.

[Figgie123]

Another great halftime speech by Sheff. Playing very well, without as many errors.

[BeckysTXA]

Originally Posted by Figgie123 Shayne is doing great too. She is so fired up on that court.

Agree.

[rollo]

can you give a *^&%&*^ score now and then??

[Figgie123]

4th set, Flyers up 15-8, down 2 sets to 1. Pepperdine timeout.

[BeckysTXA]

Another good UD timeout.

[Figgie123]

Flyers up 19-15, Flyer timeout.

[BeckysTXA]

UD up 19-15 in set 4.

[UDBrian]

ud 23-20 Campbell really picking it up

[PepBand Man]

Shane Brown puts it down!

[BeckysTXA]

UD 24-21 -- Pep serving

[Figgie123]

Dayton 2nd and last timeout (for set) in 4th set. Up 24-21.

[UDBrian]

If UD wins this shayne brown should be allowed to pick the post game dinner location, best match of her career in the clutch

[Figgie123]

Z with the kill to win the set 25-21.

Let's get this one in 5!

[BeckysTXA]

Going to 5th set. UD wins 25-21 in set 4.

Set 5 is a trackmeet. First to 5, First to 10, First to 15. That's how the team plays it. We need to jump on them!

[PepBand Man]

Going to set 5! Let's Go Flyers -clap-clap-clapclapclap!

[UDBrian]

ud siding out at 72% in set 4, pretty darn good against a good team

[Figgie123]

Just heard commentator say Rachel has 50+ attempts, so she is now number 1 all-time in attempts in Flyer history.

[HansMoleman]

Originally Posted by UDBrian If UD wins this shayne brown should be allowed to pick the post game dinner location, best match of her career in the clutch

Without Shayne, Flyers are already back in the hotel

[BeckysTXA]

UD 5-3. TO Pepp Now up 7-3

[Figgie123]

Shayne with a career high 17 kills in this match. And we still have plenty to go.

[BeckysTXA]

UD up 8-6. TO UD -- good TO.

[NovaFlyer]

9-7 dayton

[BeckysTXA]

UD first to 10 (10-7). UD serving

[NovaFlyer]

11-7 ud

[BeckysTXA]

Block. UD up 11-7.. TO Pepp -- their last/

[Figgie123]

UD up 11-7, Pepperdine uses their final timeout.

[NovaFlyer]

11-8 ud

[NovaFlyer]

Megan 13-8 UD

[NovaFlyer]

14-9 ud

[Figgie123]

Long dig/set from Vargas, to Kray for the kill, and the Flyers win in 5!!!!

[NovaFlyer]

we win..................

[PepBand Man]

We win, we win!

[MD Flyer Pride]

Congrats, Flyers!!!

[NovaFlyer]

So proud of these kids

[Glen Clark]

Sweet!

________________________
Certainty of death, small chance of success. . . What are we waiting for?
Gimli in Lord of the Rings - Return of the King

[Figgie123]

So, I'm going to have to have my ear buds in tomorrow night at 8pm, while watching the Flyer Men's Basketball team so I can listen to the Flyers battle the winner of Oregon/Northern Colorado. Maybe they'll make it 5 sets again, and I can catch the end when I get home from the game.

[ud69]

An absolute gut check - no other way to describe it. In the biggest moment of the season. We got up off the mat, sucked it up, and pulled it out. One of the most satisfying wins by a Flyer sports team in many a moon - probably since the ladies hoops win against TCU.

[BeckysTXA]

Coach Matt's comments post-match were exactly what we had here.

1. Career night for Shayne Brown. Career high in kills with 19. He also added that all 3 matches against Pepperdine Shayne has lit it up. Also said Sam had confidence in her and kept feeding her the ball.

2. Kray -- carried the team and took a ton of swings. I'll add she made some really good passes too.

3. Jill Loiar -- Hadn't played since October 21st at Butler. Came in and "managed the match" -- meaning did what she could and contributed. And we needed every one of her contributions -- both swings and blocks.

Also added Megan Campbell just kept grinding it out. I agree with that.

[redbengal]

A comeback for the ages! Hopefully that helps to wash out the taste of last year's First Round loss when they were on the verge. Congrats, Flyers! And go N. Colorado!!

[Avid Flyer]

Pepperdine had a good game plan, knew they couldn't stop Kray or Megan so they concentrated on Alaina Turner......Enter Jill whom they had no scouting report on .

Jill was a beast for coming in cold. Both Jill and Shayne should be able to choose where to have dinner.

[Avid Flyer]

The Oregon pep band played the UD fight song as the ladies were leaving the court....cool.

[jack72]

Amen on Jill and Shayne, and of course Kray was a beast. Our serving in sets 4 and 5 was so much better than 1 and 2. Bring on some duck soup.

[BeckysTXA]

The NCAAs are all about serve and serve receive. Every team has great players. They all have great hitters and most have really good setters. It comes down to can you be in system off a good pass from defense and serve receive. And can you get the other team out of system off agressive serving. Blocking also helps. You have to be a good blocking team to slow down the hitter when they are in-system, cause everyone has great hitters if they made the tournament, and like UD showed tonight -- we have more than one or two. That helps too with a good setter like Sam who can get the ball to the open hitter and has the confidence that hitter will find the floor. UDBrian said it this week, this is the most balanced UD team ever and we have a better backrow than the last couple years. Let's see how far we can go.

[Avid Flyer]

BTW loved watching Anne Kordes antics on the sideline as her Louisville Cardinals were upset at home and knocked out of the tournament.

[Chris R]

My feeling is always that defense at the net -- namely blocking -- controls the match. We had nuthin' in the first two sets. We were getting mauled like school girls. Pepperdine was killing us with points down the line even with two blockers seemingly covering it.

The last three sets, we ramped up the D and started imposing our will at the net. Those points do as much psychological damage as they do change the scoreboard. And it pulled us out and protected the lead late in set five. When we're blocking, we can be Top-10. When we're not blocking, we can get beat by many teams. Once we started blocking, we started throwing in haymakers too. Stopped candyassing around and started hitting through the ball.

This is one of the best comebacks in UD athletics I can remember since perhaps Brian Roberts and Miami. But there was not nearly as much at stake there. Then I have to go back to NCAAs vs Michigan State when were won in five sets on their home court.

After playing so poorly, we couldnt have come further in the next three sets. It was literally from rags to riches. What a tremendous victory. Sure we were ranked and they weren't, but these teams are a push and we know it. You could even argue that Pepperdine is more seasoned because of their schedule. And they have more history. But tonight the women just refused to re-live the disappointment of last season.

This is why its so enjoyable to invest fan time into this program. You get paid back. Imagine if mens hoops paid off like this every year.

Yeeee haw!!!

[Figgie123]

Originally Posted by Figgie123 So, I'm going to have to have my ear buds in tomorrow night at 8pm, while watching the Flyer Men's Basketball team so I can listen to the Flyers battle the winner of Oregon/Northern Colorado. Maybe they'll make it 5 sets again, and I can catch the end when I get home from the game.

My mistake. The game tomorrow night will be at 8pm PT, therefore, 11pm Eastern Time. I better take a nap tomorrow.

[Glen Clark]

Somewhere around the middle of the fourth set the Pepperdine players stopped laughing and smiling.
Kinda like the Xavier women.

___________________
Whether your glass is half empty or half full, you still have more to drink.

[Chris R]

Originally Posted by BeckysTXA Not that this matters...just an observation...it looks like Pepperdine is foot faulting and it's not being called??? I need to know if your foot can touch the line but not go over??? That might be what I'm seeing. Their good OH Orozoco seems to be doing it a lot.

I was thinking same thing. In one sequence I counted three toes on the line on three successive serves. Maybe the line is fair. I dont know. I cant imagine it however. It would be much easier to call a foot fault by touching the line rather than touching it but not going over it.

[Glen Clark]

The line is part of the court.

___________________
Whether your glass is half empty or half full, you still have more to drink.

[ud69]

Lots of heroes tonight -

Sheff - went to the bench and Loiars when things were bleak - takes cojones to make that move

"Brown puts it down" - loved every time Shane called it

Loiars - she was so poised for having played so little

Kray - got that right arm wound up - especially in set 5

Sam - kept feeding the horse - Kray - especially in the last set

Paige and Jenna and Ally - the digging in the last 2 sets was outstanding

"Z" - loved how we came out of the timeout on set point in set 4 and ran the kill for her

Megan - steady

Rachel - hit a thousand!

Alaina - she'll be back

[BeckysTXA]

Originally Posted by Chris R I was thinking same thing. In one sequence I counted three toes on the line on three successive serves. Maybe the line is fair. I dont know. I cant imagine it however. It would be much easier to call a foot fault by touching the line rather than touching it but not going over it.

That's exactly what I saw -- and two other "one-timers". I kept wishing I had a phone number to text a coach.

[BeckysTXA]

[QUOTE=Chris R;283696]My feeling is always that defense at the net -- namely blocking -- controls the match. We had nuthin' in the first two sets. We were getting mauled like school girls. Pepperdine was killing us with points down the line even with two blockers seemingly covering it.

The last three sets, we ramped up the D and started imposing our will at the net. Those points do as much psychological damage as they do change the scoreboard. And it pulled us out and protected the lead late in set five. When we're blocking, we can be Top-10. When we're not blocking, we can get beat by many teams. Once we started blocking, we started throwing in haymakers too. Stopped candyassing around and started hitting through the ball. [QUOTE]

1. Early on we were not getting the block set up correct for the down the line shot. Middle wasn't getting over far enough and the OH was closing to the middle. We made that adjustment -- good call by the coaches and good job by the players to make this adjustment.

2. I can appreciate your blocking comments, but the reason we couldn't get any blocks is because our servers were so soft Pepperdine had 3 hitting options almost every time in the first 2 sets. In the pre-match interview with Sheff, he said, " You have to serve agressively in the NCAAs. If the other team is in system all the time, you can't win." That's what was happening. They were in system and the setter waits to see what direction the blockers lean towards and sends the ball to a different hitter. They were just beating our block, but it was caused because our serving was weak and thier offense was in-system.

[Chris R]

yeah i dont remember what set it was, but Pepp was serving right to left on all those foot faults. It was pretty obvious. I agree our serve was soft.

I think that match point underscored the entire comeback. They werent going to be soft on any point anymore. Just dug their heels in and sold out. A huge terrific save to keep it alive, and Kray performs one of her patented flat footed side-swing haymakers. If we're going down, I want us to go down swinging.

Z was inept for the first 2.5 sets. She was swinging with little chicken wing type jabs at the ball instead of trying to put a hole through the court. She got better and helped us big time on D when we needed to find our blocking.

After that 5-set loss to Pepperdine at UD Arena two years ago where we literally had it and flushed it down the commode, we've come back and taken 2 of 3 from a great program. The Wave went to the Elite-8 last year. They may not be USC or UCLA or Stanford, but they are the next best west coast royalty. They are a perennial Top-25 program with a long-time respected VB coach. They get good players and can give most programs an honest match.

I think we earned some respect tonight. Respect not just in winning, but the kind of character our program has to get off the mat and fight like we belong. It was nice to see Ducks fans clapping in appreciation of Dayton's effort. I think they enjoyed the match as non-partisans and were pulling for the Flyers to complete the improbable comeback. Makes that Kentucky loss sting a bit less last year. A little anyway!

[BeckysTXA]

You must have come in a little late -- Z had 3-4 big time kills right off the bat. She was hitting 1000 about 3 swings into the match. Later there was a little timing problem on a couple sets. It happens, especially if the pass is a little off. But like she always does, she came up big blocking -- match high of 7. And what I like about Z is even if she has a couple back swings for whatever reason including if it's her fault -- she never seems to let it bother her. She just gets after it.

[Chris R]

I missed some of set 1. When I tuned in, Z had about 4-5 straight swings where they were just sort of little mini punches of the ball. I think Pepperdine ended up digging out most of them. Shes tall and can jump. I want her tearing the cover off the ball. I left and came back and she was doing damage on D in set 4.

OK have to ask. What was the deal on that one serve in the middle of the match (set 2?) that was like 9 feet wide at the 10ft line. Everybody looked at it like "what just happened?" Was that a moonball gone bad or..?

[Figgie123]

Stats are up.

Shayne had career highs in kills (19) and attempts (30).
Jill had career highs in kills (6), attempts (27), errors (2), digs (3) and block assists (2).

Sideout pct by team was .329.

Megan - .429
Krafka - .400
Selsky and Kray - .389
Paige - .286
Allyson - .231

[BeckysTXA]

I'm watching the Oregon match. Heard they were fast -- and they are. They too have big time hitters. We'll have to serve really well tomorrow.

[Fan4allUDSports]

Let's hope those ladies get well rested for tomorrow, they are going to need it.

[Glen Clark]

Here is a link to the Pepperdine site:

http://www.pepperdinesports.com/spor...120112aaa.html

The highlights (mostly Pepperdine) show Kray's smash to win the match on a save from the baseline.

___________________
Whether your glass is half empty or half full, you still have more to drink.

[tandemcaptain]

Originally Posted by Figgie123 Shayne is doing great too. She is so fired up on that court.

I was greatly impressed with Shayne last night. It wasn't simply her super play, but that very demonstrable attitude and demeanor!

@TandemCaptain

[UDBrian]

If it wasn't an ncaa violation I would give shayne a t shirt that says

B R O W N

Puts It Down!

I've always liked shayne and it was great to see her rise to the occasion

[BeckysTXA]

I think Shayne has had a great year. How good? Well I think she drew the short straw when it came to A-10 post season awards. As a point of reference, her numbers playing 100% rightside were BETTER than SLU's Sammi McCloud's numbers the year she played some right side and mostly middle blocker and was named "co POY" with Lindsay. (FYI, MB's usually hit at a higher percentage than OHs.) Glad to see Shayne have a monster match.

[udisit19]

Very good performance by the Flyers. Sheff's move to switch turner and Jill made abug difference. I'm surprised Pepperdine was never able to counter that move and find a way to make Jill less disruptive. Shayne was amazing and I lover her leadership and demeanor too. Her never give up attitude throught the match had to really anger and annoy Pepperdine. They will have nightmares with Shayne in them. Serving got better late in this game like it did against Xavier. Morey and Cambell had nice serving runs giving Dayton confidence and comfortable leads. I don't understand why the serving has clearly gotten better in the later sets but that has been the recent script.

This Dayton win was against a very strong team and program and even tougher given the travel circumstances. (Long flight/time zones). This win will help UD for a while. It's very important in showing that Dayton and the A-10 can compete with the bigger, more storied programs. The Oregon match will be tough, but I like where Dayton is. All facets of the game have been played at a high level, at times, and the team knows their strong effort yields a great reward. I was very worried about Dayton in this neutral court setting against Pepperdine, but they figured it out.

Dayton hasn't played on the road in too many big time environments. Western Kentucky can be thrown out bc of the rough morning the had that day. But their road performance against Xavier was much better than their neutral court performance. Sheffield has said they like playing on the road. We will find out.
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[Avid Flyer]

After ther Oregon game last night their annnouncer wanted to interview a duck player but were told they would not be available for 10 min or so. Seems they had something on their mind and it wasn't celebrating their expected win against Northern Co.