Volleyball: 2014 Preview

DEFIANCE, Ohio – Head Coach Brie Brenner will be aiming to win her second Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference in as many years in the 2014 campaign.

The third year head coach and the 2013 conference Coach of the Year, won DC's first ever HCAC Regular-Season Championship a year ago and has been picked to do the same this year by her fellow HCAC coaches.

DC went 9-0 during conference play in 2013, including six straight set wins.  Although the Yellow Jackets graduated a lot of fire power, they still have a lot of experience and talent to reload immediately this season.

Setters:  Alicia Kalik (South Lyon, Mich. / South Lyon) returns as the team's primary setter.  She had a huge season last year playing in all 29 matches and saw action in 105 sets.  She led the team, and was second in the conference, in assists with 1,063 falling 17 assists shy of the Defiance single-season record.  She averaged 10.12 assists per set which ranked second in the HCAC and in the top-25 nationally amongst NCAA Division III schools.  Kalik was a three-time HCAC Player of the Week honoree during the 2013 season and was tabbed first-team All-HCAC for the second straight year. It marked her third overall all-conference award of her career.  In addition, Kalik became the school's all-time leader in assists with 2,800.

Kalik comes into the 2014 campaign as the team's lone setter but is used to the heavy play load as she has started for DC since the day she stepped on campus as a freshman.

Hitters:  Bree Anderson (Huntertown, Ind. / Carroll) joins Kalik as the other returning All-HCAC selection from last year's squad and was also a first-team pick.  Anderson had 262 kills last season, which is the highest returning mark for DC in that category.  She also ended the year with a .210 hitting percentage to go along with 100 digs (0.98 digs per set) and was tied for third on the team with 67 total blocks (22 solo and 45 assists).

Anderson will be joined at the net by sophomores Hope Neagarder (Union City, Ohio / Mississinawa Valley), Ariane Mahaffey (Porter, Ind. / Chesterton), and Kelsey Tietje (Deshler, Ohio / Patrick Henry).

Mahaffey and Neagarder will add depth to the hitting spots as they bring 36 kills and 13 kills back to the team, respectively.  Mahaffey also tallied eight service aces, 18 digs (0.43 d/s) and six blocks (three solo and three assisted).  Neagarder added 26 digs (0.81 d/s) and six blocks (two solo and four assists) in 16 matches played and 32 sets.  Tietje is the team's leading returning blocker.  She was tied for the team lead with 88 blocks (24 solo and 64 assists) last year as a freshman and averaged 0.85 blocks per set. 

Defense:  Junior Rebecca Kain (Orland, Ind. / Prairie Heights) and senior Caroline Hesterman (Fort Wayne, Ind. / North Side) come back as the most experienced defensive players that the Yellow Jackets will put on the floor.

Kain handled the libero duties last year for the Yellow Jackets.  She excelled in that spot, nearly doubling the amount of digs from any other member of the team last season with 477 and averaged 4.59 d/s.  Her 477 digs were the fifth most in the conference. 

Hesterman will be the lone senior in the back row for DC.  She dug up 147 balls last season which is the third highest returning on the team behind Kain and Kalik.  She was also fourth on the team in aces with 19.  In addition, Hesterman added 16 assists and four kills.

Other players to watch defensively include sophomores Dia Jackson (Detroit, Mich. / Canton), Makayla Dennis (Bryan, Ohio / Bryan), and Addison Forche (Swanton, Ohio / Swanton).

Jackson and Dennis had 46 (1.64 d/s) and 47 digs (0.60 d/s) last year, respectively.  Dennis was also one of the team's top servers in 2013 finishing in a tie for second on the team with 21 aces.  Forche played in five sets as a freshman and ended the year with a pair of aces and three digs.

DC will open the season at the Ohio Northern Invitational on August 29 and 30.  They will play four matches starting with Wooster at 3:00 pm on Friday, August 29.