DC swept by Rio Grande in three competitive sets

DEFIANCE, Ohio – Coming off a win in last week's first match for the program, the Defiance Yellow Jackets were defeated in straight sets (25-22, 25-22, 25-23) by the Rio Grande Red Storm at the Karl H. Weaner Center on Saturday.

The loss by sweep for the Yellow Jackets (1-1) comes in direct contrast to their 3-0 win last Thursday, while the Red Storm (3-2) picked up their second straight victory. All three sets were decided by a combined 8 points. Defiance had the help of 14 Rio Grande errors in the first set paired with 7 kills by 6 different players. Rio Grande committed 17 combined errors over the second two sets while Defiance continued to hit stronger as the match went along. 

The Red Storm enjoyed an early 8-3 lead and led by 5 points as late at 20-15, but DC closed the set strong with points in 7 of the last 12 rallies starting with a pair of kills by Philippe Meny. Defiance held the upper hand through the second set while Meny landed two more points early in the set. Rio Grande took the lead late to capture a 2-0 lead by winning 6 of 8 to close Set 2. The third set was evenly split until the end with 14 ties as DC attempted to extend the match. The Jackets had go-ahead kills by Kaden Burgeson, Thaddeus Setla and Matthew Schulte past the halfway point, and had leads of 22-20 and 23-22. However, the Red Storm scored three straight to go from down 1 to a 2-point win.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS

• The Yellow Jackets carried a higher hitting percentage from their season opener, hitting .156 as a team and reducing their errors from 22 to 17.
• After starting with an .087 percentage, DC had their highest percentage in the third set at .286.
• Rio Grande had a strong hitting performance as well at .299 despite the early errors.
• Philippe Meny led the Yellow Jackets with 9 kills, followed by Matthew Schulte with 6 and Thaddeus Setla with 5. 
• Adam Sutton led DC in assists for the second straight match with 25. He also led the team with 5 digs.
• Shulte and Joshua Blair led Defiance in the blocking game with 4 and 3, respectively.

UP NEXT
Defiance gets back on the court on Tuesday for its first conference match at Lourdes. The first serve against the Gray Wolves at Ebeid Recreation Center is scheduled for 7 p.m.

-JACKETS-