After Xavier proved to be an unruly guest on Friday night in throttling its host, the Massachusetts women’s volleyball team had hoped to rebound against another Buckeye State foe, the University of Dayton. Unfortunately, a few bad breaks and stellar all-around play from their opponents spelled doom for the Minutewomen.

UMass fell to the Flyers 1-3 on Saturday night in a match that saw four highly contested games in which momentum swung like a pendulum.

Each game was either tied or within a couple points until the very end, but Dayton was simply able to capitalize on more of its chances than the Maroon and White.

“I thought we played very well,” said Head Coach Bonnie Kenny. “We competed really hard, but were just not able to terminate [on offense].”

Sophomore Nitia Small again led the way on offense for the Minutewomen, slamming home 17 kills while contributing 12 digs on the defensive end. Seniors Lymarie Llovet and Janeen DeMarte chipped in with 14 and 13 kills, respectively. However, Dayton’s attack was far more versatile as five Flyers totaled double-digit kills. Senior Xinxin Zhang from Beijing, China was a dominant force as she blasted 19 kills, while Katie Ferriell supplied 17 kills on the offensive end and 20 digs on the other side of the ball.

“I thought we played really hard, but it was really hard work on defense,” said junior setter Jidka Stehnova. “They just had more kills than us.” Stehnova finished with 47 assists in supporting the UMass attack while totaling 19 digs on defense.

Game one saw both teams exchange points consistently until Dayton reeled off four in a row to take a 14-9 advantage. However, behind the offensive firepower of Llovet and Lauren Vander Veen, the Minutewomen chipped away and had the lead twice in the game, the second being a 25-23 advantage. However, two kills each from the Flyers’ Zhang and Susan Westbrock helped the visitors rally back and take the first game, 28-30.The second contest was as hardly fought as the first, as the lead changed hands several times during the game. UMass built a 6-3 lead after a Dayton service error, but then fell behind at 12-16. Towards the end of the match, Dayton gained control and kept the Minutewomen at bay, always holding a two or three point advantage. The Maroon and White pulled to within 26-28 after a DeMarte kill and got as close as 28-29, but Westbrock slammed home the deciding kill to give the Flyers a 2-0 advantage.

UMass stayed strong, however, and was able to take game three by a tally of 30-28. The Maroon and White had control for most of the game, building several leads, including its biggest at 25-18 after a Llovet kill. Dayton roared back, however, and managed to grab the lead at 27-28 after Zhang slammed home what was then her fourteenth kill of the match. However, UMass maintained its composure and won the next three points, finishing off the game with a DeMarte kill to cut the Dayton lead to 2-1.

However, Dayton was able to finish off the Minutewomen with a strong performance in game four. UMass could never sustain a sizable rally during the game, while Dayton put together a six-point run to take a 25-18 advantage. UMass tried to claw back, but the Flyer attack was too much, and Zhang finished off her offensive display by slamming down her final kill to give Dayton the 30-25 win and the match.

“Dayton was more physical than we were,” said Kenny. “We needed Lauren and Lymarie to be as effective as they were.

“They just had more firepower than us. When we needed kills, we didn’t get them.”