Volleyball Outlasts Albion in Three-Set Thriller

DEFIANCE, Ohio - The Defiance College volleyball team continued their winning ways in front of a raucous Karl H. Weaner Center crowd on Tuesday evening. The Yellow Jackets left no one disappointed as they grabbed a 3-0 (26-24, 30-28, 25-20) victory over the Albion College Britons. 

Both the first and second set gave the Purple and Gold faithful extra volleyball as the sides forced it past 25. Sitting at 24-24, a pair of Jessi Davis (Delta / Delata) kills, both assisted by Brianna Wheeler (Sturgis, Mich. / Sturgis) gave the Yellow Jackets the pivotal final two points in the first.

The second set had everyone in the Weaner Center on the edge of their seats as the sides were locked at 28. In similar fashion Wheeler fed Davis a kill which then set up Delaney Monnin (Defiance / Tinora) for the set-winning attack. 

A quick back-and-forth to start the third set was led by Mackenzie Benham (Marshall, Mich. / Marshall) who continued her impressive day. The sophomore recorded three kills in the first four DC points to help kickstart the action. At 21-19, the Yellow Jackets were poised to finish the home contest in three. Monnin rose to the occasion with the help of Wheeler, dishing out three kills to finish the set 25-20. 

Benham's performance saw the Marshall, Mich. native soar to a career-high 19 kills on the evening while tallying a .378 kill percentage. Benham also contributed nine digs and one block in her successful evening. 

Morgan Porter (Defiance / Defiance) added 22 more digs to her HCAC-leading campaign. A milestone night for the Defiance native saw her surpass the 1,000 career digs mark. The junior currently sits atop the conference in both season digs (310) and digs per set (6.20). Porter was closely followed by Alexis Kiessling (Defiance / Defiance) with 16 digs. 

With the victory, the Yellow Jackets improve to 10-4 on the year and remain undefeated at home with a 2-0 record. DC will look to tack on two more wins to their three match streak as they visit Ohio Northern on Saturday, September 21. After a match with the Polar Bears at 12:00 pm, the side will take on Kenyon College at 4:00 pm.