Dayton volleyball opens season in Utah

The Dayton Flyers volleyball program starts the season ranked 24th in the American Volleyball Coaches Association poll. That’s a sign of respect for a consistent winner coming off one of its greatest seasons.

After finishing 31-3 in 2024 and reaching the Sweet 16, where it lost to Nebraska, for the first time, Dayton opens the 2025 season at the Utah Classic in Salt Lake City on Friday.

Replacing All-American outside hitter Lexie Almodovar, a two-time Atlantic 10 Conference Player of the Year, will be the biggest challenge.

“It’s a different group,” coach Tim Horsmon said. “We’ve got a whole lot of kids that I haven’t really seen or spent a lot of time with, from transfers to freshmen. It’s been an interesting three weeks at the start, to say the least.”

Dayton started practice Aug. 4. It played Tennessee, which received votes in the AVCA poll, in an exhibition match Saturday at the Frericks Center and won the first three sets.

In Utah, Dayton will play Lafayette at 1 p.m. Friday and then the host school, Utah, at 9 p.m. A third match against Washington State, which Dayton played in the second round of the NCAA tournament in 2023, follows at 3 p.m. Saturday.

Dayton’s early-season schedule includes nine matches on the road: three at Utah; three at Marquette’s tournament; and three at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis. It doesn’t play at the Frericks Center until the Dayton Flyers Invitational on Sept. 19.

Dayton’s 2025 roster includes five transfers who joined the program this year:

• Junior libero Lily Barry (Illinois).

“She’s doing a really nice job in the back row,” Horsmon said. “We needed a little help there. She’s given us a spark. Great personality. Brings some toughness. And a hell of an athlete back there.”

• Junior outside hitter Kamryn Hunt (Ohio), who made the All-Mid-American Conference second team last season.

“She’s a really athletic outside hitter who does a lot of really good things,” Horsmon said.

• Senior setter Viktoria Wahlgren (Virginia Tech/Utah).

“Really solid player,” Horsmon said. “Great Leader. Really mature kid.”

• Two of the transfers are from Europe.

Sophomore outside hitter Lejla Sara Hadžiredžepović played for Iceland’s national team and appeared in seven matches last season at Clemson. Redshirt junior outside hitter Panna Ratkaia, who’s from Hungary, was the Horizon League Player of the Year at Fort Wayne last season and won the league’s offensive player of the year award the last two seasons.

Dayton’s roster includes six freshmen: setter Melina Schrader (New Bremen), who started against Tennessee; middle blocker Addi Gallentine (Newburgh, Ind.); libero Morgan Asleson (LaGrange, Ill.); middle blocker Isabel Simmons (Sioux Falls, S.D.); and middle blocker Claire Logeais (Prior Lake, Minn.).

The top returners are: senior libero Karissa Kaminski, who started all 34 matches last season; senior libero Emily Young; senior middle blocker Liana Sarkissian, an All-A-10 second-team selection; and redshirt senior outside hitter Taylor Russell, who’s working her way back from offseason shoulder surgery.

Horsmon likes the leadership the returning players have shown.

“You could see the maturity of that group against Tennessee,” he said. “They were pulling everybody along and making sure everybody felt pretty good. I thought that’d be a really tough match for us, and it was — they’re a really good program — but we probably played a little bit better than I thought we were going to play. I think the consistency of what we were doing kind of shocked me."