DC Drops Two at Mount Union Tri-Match

ALLIANCE, OHIO – The Defiance College volleyball team made a trip to the University of Mount Union for two matches, but would fall in both losing to Geneva (Pa.) Colland and host Mount Union after a big Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference win last night.

The Yellow Jackets (9-9) started the day against Geneva (12-6), but lost by a score of 3-1.  They then faced a top-10 team in the nation in No. 7 Mount Union (16-1) where they would fall 3-0.

Against Geneva, the Golden Tornadoes defeated the Yellow Jackets in four sets by way of 25-23, 18-25, 25-18 and 26-24.  Alicia Kalik (South Lyon, Mich./South Lyon) and Kelsey Tietje (Deshler/Patrick Henry) led DC in kills in the four set match with seven kills apiece.  Bree Anderson (Huntertown, Ind./Carroll), Ari Mahaffey (Porter, Ind./Chesterton) and Meredith Shank (Maumee/Springfield) all added six to the Yellow Jackets' total.  Kalik led DC in assists with 24.

Defensively, Rebecca Kain (Orland, Ind./Prairie Heights) led the back row with 16 digs.

DC then turned its attention to the seventh ranked team in the nation.  The Purple Raiders took the match 3-0 by sets of 25-17, 25-18 and 25-17.  The match started out rough for the Yellow Jackets in set one, allowing Mount to serve up three straight aces before putting a stop to the bleeding.  A kill from Mahaffey cut the lead to 3-2. Mount then stretched the lead to 5-2 before DC went on a 3-0 run by way of kills from Kalik, Anderson, and Hope Neargarder (Union City/Mississinawa Valley).  DC kept it close early with another kill from Mahaffey that made it 13-11 in favor of Mount, but that would be as close as DC would get.  Mount Union would go on a 9-2 run to take the 22-13 lead.  The Yellow Jackets made one last push, cutting the lead to 22-16 with a kill from Shank, but it would not be enough as Mount went on to close out the first set 25-17.

Mahaffey, Anderson, and Neargarder all finished with two kills in the set to lead DC offensively.

Mount Union would jump on DC in set number two, getting out to an early 11-1 lead.  An Anderson kill followed by a Danielle Robbins (Westland, Mich./Wayne Memorial) gave some momentum back to the Yellow Jackets' side.  The away squad battled back to 12-7, capped off by a Jaidyn Patridge (Toledo/Springfield) ace.  The Yellow Jackets later cut the lead to four points twice, once at 14-10 thanks to a Shank kill and at 18-14 that featured a Kain ace.  But the Purple Raiders would prove to be too much eventually claiming the set 25-18.

Anderson would again pace DC with three kills in set number two.

The Purple and Gold battled with Mount Union in set number three. Kills from Tietje and Neargarder kept DC close early, 5-4.  Back-to-back kills from Shank and Tietje gave DC its first lead of the match at 10-9.  But Mount then went on a big run of its own, regaining the lead and stretching it to 16-10 before a Shank kill stopped the run.  DC stayed within five points until the end.  Kills from Anderson and Tietje along with a Mahaffey ace made the score at 22-17 before Mount closed out the game on a 3-0 run to win 25-17.

Anderson led DC in kills for the match with seven while Tietje added five.  Kalik gave out 21 assists to lead the Yellow Jackets in that category.

Kain led the DC defense with 11 digs.

The Yellow Jackets will travel to another Ohio Athletic Conference school on Tuesday (Sept. 30).  This time they will head to Ohio Northern University for the second time this season.  DC dropped the first matchup 3-0 to the Polar Bears earlier in the year.  The two teams will square off again in a match set for 7 p.m.