Yellow Jackets win five-set thriller on Halloween Night

DEFIANCE, Ohio – A resilient Defiance Yellow Jacket volleyball squad overcame a long first set and prevailed in a five-set classic over the Madonna Crusaders at the Karl H. Weaner Center on Friday night.

The Yellow Jackets (16-15, 9-10 WHAC) proved they belong in the conversation approaching the conference tournament by knocking off one of the hottest teams in the WHAC, snapping the Crusaders' (19-10, 12-6 WHAC) seven-game winning streak in the process.

The first set showed what was in store for the night when Madonna outlasted DC 30-28 to start the evening. Defiance closed a five-point gap to tie the set at 18-18, setting the stage for the tight finish that included DC holding set point twice before Madonna closed it out.

Defiance took the next two sets by pulling away late. Both sets were tied as late as 16-16 before the Jackets got on a run to win them and take a 2-1 lead. However, the Crusaders controlled the fourth set from the get-go and forced the decisive fifth set of the match.

In the fifth, Madonna won the first two points but Gabby Rodriguez got the Yellow Jackets in gear. Sarah Hirschy slammed her second kill of the set to tie things up at 4-4, which was the last tie of the night. Chaney Brodbeck has an electric finish to the evening and crushed a cross-court kill to break that tie. Haley Hammer landed an ace that forced a timeout, which Brodbeck responded with another kill to push Defiance ahead 10-6. Madonna picked up a couple valuable points to inch within two, but Jaelyn Tomoletz along with Brodbeck combined on a booming block at the net to restore a three-point lead. The Crusaders kept coming, though, and pulled within 11-10 for force a Defiance timeout. Hirschy then delivered a crucial strike for the Yellow Jackets followed by Rodriguez with a big slam from the right side. Brodbeck helped close out the win on both ends of the ball when she made a diving dig that led to an attack error by Madonna to force match point, which she delivered on a spike with the final point.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS

• Friday's match was the sixth contest this year that went into five sets. Defiance is now 3-3 in those affairs and 2-1 in five-setters at home.
• The Yellow Jackets earned just their third win of the year after losing the opening set (Sept. 5 vs. St. Ambrose & Oct. 15 vs. Lourdes).
• Defiance set a new team high for the season with 67 kills in the match with a season-high 61 assists. 
• Chaney Brodbeck recorded her second 20-kill match of the season and also had 19 digs.
• DC had three other attackers in double-figures in kills as the Jackets spread the ball around. Both Sarah Hirschy and Taylor Craft set new season highs with 13 kills each. Gabby Rodriguez followed with 11 and Jaelyn Tomoletz smashed 10 kills on the night.
• Haley Hammer dished out 54 assists, a new match-high for her first season in purple and gold.
• Kaylee Dickinson played libero for the Jackets and pried up a team-high 21 digs.
• The win over Madonna was the program's first-ever victory over the Crusaders. Defiance was 0-6 against Madonna entering Friday's contest and were previously 0-4 against them since joining the WHAC.

UP NEXT
Defiance women's volleyball has one more regular-season match next Friday. They will host the Siena Heights Saints starting at 7 p.m. and it will also be Senior Day for the Yellow Jackets.

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