Nov. 16, 2015 NEWPORT NEWS, Va. (Atlantic10.com)- Dayton clinched the Atlantic 10 volleyball regular season title with a perfect 14-0 conference record and will be the top seed for the 2015 A-10 Championship, which begins Friday at George Washington’s Charles E. Smith Center.
Saturday’s semifinals and Sunday’s final of the six-team championship will air on television on the American Sports Network (ASN). All rounds will also be available online on the A-10 Network. The winner of the single-elimination championship will advance to the NCAA Tournament
Dayton posted its second straight regular season title and will receive a bye into the semifinals of the A-10 Championship. The Flyers are led by returning 2014 A-10 Player of the Year Alaina Turner and returning 2014 A-10 Libero of the Year Janna Krafka and are 23-5 overall. They will enter the championship on a 21-match winning streak, the best in the nation.
Saint Louis is seeded second and will also receive a bye into the semifinals. The Billikens finished second in the A-10 standings at 10-4, while posting a 21-9 mark overall. Led by junior Danielle Rygelski and seniors Meredith Boe and Megan Gilbert, SLU had a 15- match winning streak earlier this season.
Rhode Island and host George Washington each finished the conference slate at 9-5. Rhody is seeded third by virtue of a head-to-head tiebreaker. The Rams, at 19-8 overall will play Friday at 7:30 pm in the second semifinal against sixth-seeded Duquesne. Duquesne (14-14 overall) and VCU (14-16 overall) each finished conference play at 8-6. VCU beat the Dukes twice during the regular season to earn the fifth seed.
George Washington will play VCU in the first quarterfinal on Friday at 5:00 pm. The Colonials, the host for the championship, posted a 20-10 overall record.
Dayton will play the GW/VCU winner at 5:00 pm on Saturday and Saint Louis faces the Rhode Island/Duquesne winner at 7:30 pm Saturday. The championship final will be played at 2:30 pm Sunday.
Tickets are $6 for adults and $4 for children and are available through the George Washington ticket office and on-site at the championship. An adult all-session pass is $16 and $10 for children 2-12 years old. Students with a valid ID from Atlantic 10 member institutions are admitted free.
About the Atlantic 10 Conference The Atlantic 10 Conference was founded in 1975 and consists of 14 diverse members across eight states and Washington, D.C. The mission of the Atlantic 10 is to provide an enhanced student-athlete experience through 21 nationally competitive championship sports. The basketball-centric conference is committed to integrity, educational excellence and providing quality equitable championship experiences for its student-athletes, coaches, and support staff. The membership consists of Davidson College, the University of Dayton, Duquesne University, Fordham University, George Mason University, The George Washington University, La Salle University, the University of Massachusetts, the University of Rhode Island, University of Richmond, St. Bonaventure University, Saint Joseph’s University, Saint Louis University and Virginia Commonwealth University. For more information, visit www.atlantic10.com.
