RICHMOND, Va. – VCU stunned top-seeded Dayton, winning in three sets, 3-0 (27-25, 25-17, 26-24) in the Atlantic 10 Volleyball Championship semifinals Saturday at the Siegel Center. The Rams offense was potent through the whole match, hitting .259 as a team.

The Rams (16-12) advance to Sunday’s championship finals to face the winner of No. 6 Duquesne and No. 2 Loyola Chicago, who meet Saturday in the second semifinal. The final begins at noon at the Siegel Center with an A-10 title and NCAA Tournament bid on the line.

It will be VCU’s first appearance in the finals since the COVID-shorted 2020 season that was played in spring of 2021. The Rams’ last A-10 title came in 2017. It also marks the first time since 2013 and only the second time since 2003 that Dayton (23-7) will not play in the championship final. The Flyers have been the standard-bearer in A-10 volleyball, having won eight of the last 11 crowns.
Julia Rienks had 16 kills and Kalina Pylinska recorded 13 while hitting .478 for the Rams. Lannah Price recorded 11 digs and Nina Boledovicova had five digs.

The advantage in the first set swung from an early VCU lead after back-to-back Pylinska aces and a block by Alicja Jaryszek and Boledovicova to an even match at 9-9. The set then tilted to a pro-Flyer score on consecutive points from a block by Kamryn Hunt and Liana Sarkissian and a kill by Hunt. The teams battled the next few points until VCU reeled of five of the final seven points, capturing the set on a kill by Julia Rienks.

The Rams carried that momentum into set two, jumping to a 9-5 lead on four straight points, including two kills by Rienks and a kill from Pylinska. The Flyers were unable to dent that lead, and VCU closed the set strong, finishing with an ace by Letizia Galli.

Seven aces helped propel VCU to the 2-0 lead, three of which came from Pylinska.

Set three was a tighter game, with the teams trading points most of the way. VCU seemed to be on the way to an easier win late in the set with a 22-19 lead on a Dayton attack error. But the Flyers scored four of the next six points, two of which came on blocks by Corrie Anderson and Liana Sarkissian. But a set error and then a kill by Boledovicova gave VCU the match.

Hunt led the Flyers with a match-high 17 kills and Karissa Kaminski finished with 11 digs. Sarkissian tallied a match-high seven blocks.