Yellow Jackets take down Olivet in five sets for first win

OLIVET, Mich. - Defiance College volleyball won their first match of the season Wednesday night at Olivet in five sets by scores of 25-22, 12-25, 25-23, 22-25, 15-12. The Yellow Jackets are now 1-8 and Olivet drops to 6-2 with the loss.

Set number one was tightly contested, but controlled mostly by the Yellow Jackets. After Olivet scored the first point of the night, Jaelyn Tomoletz and Ellie Belvo shared a block to tie it at one. A kill by Kaylynn Wellman tied the set at six and Shelby Clements followed with a kill to give the Yellow Jackets the lead. After taking a 7-6 lead, Defiance held the lead for the remainder of the set that included rallying for four straight points to gain a 15-9 advantage. The Comets stormed back and won seven of the next eight points to tie it at 16. Tomoletz answered with a kill as the Yellow Jackets answered right back by winning the next four points and went on to win the set. Shelby Clements closed out the set with a kill. 

Olivet bounced back in a big way to win set two. Violet Porter recorded a kill for the Comets to begin the set and the Yellow Jackets would trail for the entire set. The Comets led by as many as 11 points in the set, and that came towards the end when it was 23-12 after an attack error by Madison Schoenauer.

Olivet came out of the gate strong again in set three and led 9-3. The six-point deficit for the Yellow Jackets occurred three times in the set. An attack error by Shelby Clements gave Olivet a 16-8 lead. From that point on, Defiance slowly started to gain momentum and claw back into it. Trailing 16-8, the Yellow Jackets won the next five points and used that momentum to fight back and win the set. A block by Jaelyn Tomoletz tied it at 22 and followed it with a kill to give the Yellow Jackets their first lead of the set at 24-22. The two teams split the next two points, and Tomoletz and Clements closed it out with a block. 

It looked like the Yellow Jackets might run away with set four after a 5-0 start that included kills by Wellman, Clements, and Tomoletz and a service ace by Amina Chamoun. Olivet responded and tied it at 13. The two teams traded blows after that as both recorded point streaks with Defiance winning three straight and Olivet winning four straight that saw the Comets take a slim 17-16 lead. Tied at 18, the Comets won the next five to take a 23-18 lead and a service error from Emma Chafins clinched the set victory for the home squad.

Set five was more of the same with the teams trading points. Tied at eight, Tomoletz recorded a kill to give Defiance the lead and the Yellow Jackets were able to seize control after that. Leading 14-10, the Comets won the next two and forced a Defiance timeout. Out of the timeout, Olivet's Abi Nunez had an attack error that ended the match. 

Defiance finished the match with 49 kills, 47 assists, and 84 digs. Olivet ended with 53 kills, 51 assists, and 77 digs. 

The freshmen duo of Shelby Clements and Amina Chamoun led the way for the Yellow Jackets. Clements led the team in kills with 16 and Chamoun led the way with 37 assists. Emma Chafins had a team-high 28 digs and Kayla Boettger recorded 16 digs. Abi Nunez led Olivet with 20 kills.

The Yellow Jackets are back on the road again this weekend at Oberlin College for the Oberlin Invitational. The Yellow Jackets begin the tournament Friday with a match against the hosts at 2 p.m. followed by a 4 p.m. match against St. Vincent.