Volleyball preps for A-10 tournament

The Xavier volleyball team had a bittersweet weekend, losing to their conference rival Dayton on Saturday in Cintas Center while also securing a two-seed in the Atlantic 10 Tournament. The Musketeers lost in four sets (25-22, 21-25, 25-19, 25-18) to the Flyers, battling the No. 12
team in the nation valiantly but ultimately coming up short in three of the sets. Xavier looked to come back from a first set defeat by taking the second game against Dayton, but couldn't muster enough fight to bring the last two matches close enough for a win. The Musketeers and Flyers were
close to identical in every statistic category on Saturday night and played an even match, but Xavier ultimately couldn't keep pace with Dayton. The biggest difference
was the attacking game, although both teams attacked the ball. Xavier recorded a .220 hitting percentage but was spiked out of the game by the Flyers' .253 percentage.
Redshirt junior Alex Smith led the team with 15 kills and a .500 hitting percentage and was one of four players who recorded doubledigit kills. Her sister, sophomore Aubree
Smith, recorded 51 assists on the match and averaged 12.75 assists per set. Despite a tough loss, Xavier
clinched a two-seed in the A-10 Tournament for the third year in a row. Xavier will play the winner of three-seeded VCU and sixseeded Butler at 3:30 p.m. on Sat. at Duquesne. One-seed Dayton, who went undefeated in the A-10, will play the winner of four-seeded Duquesne and five-seeded Temple. Fortunately, the Musketeers have not conceded a set all year to either team that they could face
on Saturday. The Muskies have tallied six sets against Butler's zero in conference play this year, and swept a match at VCU earlier this month. They look to continue their
dominance on Saturday and potentially play one-seeded Dayton in the championship, who defeated the Musketeers in the tournament final last year as well.