Match Notes I Watch

INDIANAPOLIS - The Butler volleyball team will head east to compete at the Dayton Flyer Classic this weekend. On Friday, the Bulldogs will face off against North Dakota St. and Ohio followed by a match against Dayton on Saturday, which will be streamed on ESPN+.

2023 Dayton Flyer Classic Schedule

Friday, September 1
North Dakota St. vs. Butler - 11 AM
Butler vs. Ohio - 5 PM
North Dakota St. vs. Dayton - 7 PM

Saturday, September 2
Ohio vs. North Dakota St. - 11 AM
Butler vs. Dayton - 1 PM

Bulldog Bits
-Butler opened the season 3-0 for the second consecutive season after they started 4-0 in 2022.
-The Bulldogs are one of four BIG EAST teams to start of the season with an undefeated record of 3-0
-North Dakota State, Ohio and Dayton all lead the overall record against Butler. The Bulldogs have one win against NDSU (1-2) and UD (1-4), and they still haven't beaten Ohio (0-1). 
-BU haven't met Dayton since 2012 where they faced off twice in a month with the Flyers taking both matches 3-1. 
-Jaymeson Kinley was named the BIG EAST Defensive Player of the Week on Mon. Aug. 28th. 
-Kinley was named the 2023 Bulldog Brawl tournament MVP for the second consecutive season after tallying 56 digs over the first three matches.
-Abby Maesch and Mariah Grunze were named to the 2023 Bulldog Brawl All-Tournament team
-Cora Taylor reached 1,000 career assists last weekend in just her second season with the Bulldogs. 
-Grace Boggess set a career-high 7 total blocks against UC San Diego last weekend

SCOUTING NORTH DAKOTA STATE: The Bison enter the Dayton Invite with a 3-0 record after competing at the Vandal Volleyball Invite in Moscow, Idaho last weekend. Head coach Jennifer Lopez will help lead a NDSU squad that earned its highest Summit League Preseason Coaches' Poll ranking since 2016 after being picked second. Kelley Johnson, who was named Summit League Setter of the Year, returns to the team after she led the conference and ranked eighth in the nation with a career-best 1,342 assists last year. 

Johnson will be joined by Ali Hinze who became just the ninth player in program history to surpass the 1,000 kills mark with 1,052 over her first three seasons. 

SCOUTING OHIO: The Bobcats began opening weekend with a 2-1 record at the LD&B Insurance Invitational. Ohio lost a five set thriller against UMBC 3-2 in their season opener followed by consecutive wins over James Madison 3-0 and High Point 3-1. Ohio's roster features 12 returners, including All-MAC First Team honorees Caitlin O'Farrell and Caroline Clippard. 

In the first three matches, the Bobcats have four players with 30 or more kills. O'Farrell is Ohio's top option with a team-high 40 kills.

SCOUTING DAYTON: The Flyers started the regular season 2-1 after hosting the Flyer Invitational last weekend. The season opener could not have gone better as Dayton swept No. 24 ranked Western Kentucky to enter the win column. The Flyers would head into the second day of the tournament where they would split two five-set battles, where they knocked off Drake 3-2 before falling to No. 12 ranked Marquette in the following match. 

UD was picked to finish second in the 2023 Atlantic 10 Conference by the 2023 Preseason A10 Coaches Poll.  OH/L Lexie Almodovar, and MB Amelia Moore are the Flyers top returners after being named to the 2022 All-Conference First Team.

CORA CRACKS 1K: Setter Cora Taylor reached 1,000 career assists last weekend in just her second collegiate season. Taylor finished with 119 assists in her first three matches at the Bulldog Brawl including a 46 assist performance against UC San Diego. She currently sits at 1,111 career assists and is currently on pace to jump into the top 10 of Butler's All-Time career assist leaders this season. 

Last season, Taylor was named to the BIG EAST All-Freshman Team after tallying a team-high 992 assists along with 9.36 assists per set, which ranked fifth in the BIG EAST.

LEGENDARY LIBERO: The two-time BIG EAST Libero of the Year Jaymeson Kinley is coming off another record-breaking season after her 618 digs and 5.42 digs per set became the best marks in program history. Kinley was selected to the All-BIG EAST Team and AVCA East All-Regional Team after playing in all 114 sets last season. She enters the 2023 season on the Preseason All-BIG EAST team for just the second time in program history. 

Kinley was named the MVP of the Bulldog Brawl tournament last weekend after racking up 56 digs over the first three matches of the season.

PIN IT TO WIN IT: The Butler volleyball team boasts an impressive young attacking core at the pins. Mariah Grunze will headline the frontcourt after appearing in all 113 sets and leading the team with 415.5 points. Opposite of Grunze will be transfer Abby Maesch, who was a steady contributor during her two years at the University of Georgia where she registered 142 kills and 12 serving aces. 

Abby Maesch returns to Indianapolis for her junior campaign after spending two seasons at Georgia. The local product is originally from Avon, Ind.

NEW KIDS ON THE BLOCK: The Bulldogs welcomed eight new players to the team including one transfer and seven true freshmen. Transfer Abby Maesch hopes to bring her experience to the team at the outside hitter position after spending two years with the University of Georgia. Elise Ward, Laiya Ebo and Sawyer Jones are three true freshmen outside hitters who will also look to make an immediate impact 

The Bulldogs have four other true freshmen hoping to make a quick influence on the team and coaching staff including D/S Reese Bates, D/S Abby Herman, MB Jaeda Lockhart and S Kaylee Finnegan. 

FRESH START: The Kyle Shondell Era couldn't have started off any better after he helped lead his team to a 3-0 record at the Bulldog Brawl last weekend. The 2022 AVCA National Coach of the Year arrived on campus on March 7, 2023 becoming the sixth head coach in program history. Shondell also brought along an entire new coaching staff including three new assistant coaches. 

The Butler volleyball coaching staff includes two previous assistant coaches in Tyler Golsteyn from Eastern Michigan and AJ Lux from Missouri State along with first time assistant coach Grace Cleveland from Purdue. 

WATCH THE BULLDOGS: The match between Butler and Dayton will be streamed on ESPN+ beginning on Saturday at 1pm. Viewers can follow along on the Live Stats for the Bulldogs' two matches on Friday. 

UP NEXT
Butler will head south to Morehead, Kent. for the MSU Comfort Inn-vitational. Morehead State will host three teams including BU, Northern Kentucky and Indiana State.

The Bulldogs will face off against NKU (1PM) and Indiana State (4:30PM) on Sept. 8 followed by a single match against MSU (2PM) on Sept. 9.