The UD women's volleyball team showed they were ready to defend their 2005 Atlantic-10 Conference title as the Flyers won both of their games over the weekend.

The Flyers defeated Xavier and Wright State at home Friday and Saturday night.

In the last regular season match up of Dayton and Xavier, each match was drawn to five games as the Flyers won both meetings of the 2005 season, 3-2. This time around, UD did not need another two games to beat the Musketeers.

UD started their string of six matches at the Frericks Center in an A-10 match against rival Xavier, who came into the competition with a 2-0 conference record. In front of a crowd of more than 1,300 fans, the Flyers overtook the Musketeers, closing out the match in a 3-0 sweep.

'I was very happy with how the girls competed,' said Head Coach Tom Horsmon when asked about how the team played.

Although taking some time to really get going in the first match of the night, the Flyers pulled out the first win in a score of 30-26. This would be the closest XU would get to UD all night.

In the second game, UD started strong, earning three points before XU got on the board. The Flyers amassed a 14-point lead in the end of the game and closed out the second win of the night off of a kill by freshman Bethany Akerhielm, ending the game 30-15.

Xavier grabbed the first point of the third game. Jamie-Lee Richards responded and a kill by the junior brought the score to 1-1. UD never relinquished the lead in the rest of the game, and thanks to an attack error by XU freshman Kelly Sherman, UD won the last game of the match, 30-19.

UD dominated Xavier in all areas for the night. Richards led both teams in points for the game with 14 and led the Flyers with 12 kills. Redshirt sophomore Erin Schroeder contributed 34 of UD's 41 assists for the night. Junior Adrienne Green and sophomore Nicole Bateman led the Flyers with 11 digs and junior Robynne Greene had two service aces for the night. Overall, the Flyers earned 15 total team blocks to the Musketeers' three.

The record crowd of 1,340 fans marked the second time this season that the Flyers have had over a 1,000 fans supporting them.

'The student involvement has been unbelievable,' said Coach Horsmon, noting how the support of Red Scare and the entire student body has really helped to motivate the Flyers this year.

UD faced another rival Saturday, this time cross town competitor Wright State. The Raiders came into the game 8-10 overall and with a 2-1 Horizon League record.

Wright State opened the first game with the first two points. The Flyers tied the game at 4-4 from a kill by senior Faye Barhorst and then went on to lead the rest of play. Thanks to an attack error by WSU senior Jenny Schultz, the Flyers won 30-25.

Wright State again opened up the second game with the first point and was able to carry that momentum through the rest of the game. Schultz rebounded from the last game to score the winning point for the raiders as UD fell 23-30. The match was now tied 1-1.

UD responded in the third game and had control the entire time. Never giving up the lead, the Flyers held Wright State to only 13 points as Barhorst opened the game and closed the game with a kill. UD was now up 2-1 thanks to the 30-13 win.

The fourth game of the match saw UD open up strong and amass a five-point lead. It was now Wright State's turn to respond and the Raiders certainly did. After five ties, Wright State grabbed the lead off a UD attack error to bring the score to 27-26. The Flyers fought back, as Greene added a service ace, but fell to the Raiders, 30-26.

A fifth game was now required to determine the winner and UD pulled out the win, 17-15. At the conclusion of the night, Barhorst led all players with 21 kills and Richards had the second highest with 19. Schroeder again led all players with 71 assists.

The successful weekend was the start of a six-match home series for the Flyers. Next for UD is a rematch of the 2005 A-10 Championships as Temple comes to Frericks Friday at 7 p.m.