Sports

Volleyball prepares to take on Dayton

by Tim Wilmes

The Xavier women’s volleyball team looks to continue their impressive winning streak Saturday night at 7 p.m. in Cintas Center against heated rival Dayton. The Musketeers have dominated Atlantic 10 play coming into the I-75 clash against the No. 14 team in the nation, winning their last eight matches and clinching a second place finish in the
conference. The team’s last loss, however, came against the Flyers in a highly contested match on Oct. 8 at Dayton (19-25, 25-21, 25- 21, 25-14). The A-10’s top team has yet to lose in conference play and comes into the match as the
league leader in hitting percentage, hitting percentage allowed, assists, kills and blocks. Despite that statistical
and gameplay dominance, the Musketeers can keep pace
with the Flyers, as Xavier is no worse than third in any of those categories. A win against their rival could propel the Musketeers into a deep A-10 tournament run like they saw last year. The Muskies are due for a win against the highly contested Flyers, as they split the regular season series last year with UD before losing in the A-10 tournament final
to the Gem City rival. A win this weekend could bring even more confidence to a Musketeer team that has waited to
bring down the volleyball Goliath in tournament play.
A key to the match could very well be the attacking game for both teams. Flyers senior Rachel Krabacher is one of the best attackers in the nation and boasts an impressive kill margin, hitting 4.53 kills/set – almost a half a kill better per serve than the next best average in the A-10 at 4.05. Xavier junior Sarah Brown, who is fifth in this category in the A-10, could be a key figure in the match. If Brown can produce
her typical solid performance and the Musketeers defense can shut down Krabacher, Xavier will have a good shot at winning. Aside from the matchup on the court, Saturday marks the last home game for seniors Kaela Jo Freppon, Elizabeth Lucich, Kaleigh Rougraff, Stephanie Vorherr and Amé White. A ceremony will be held in honor of senior night.