Jackets tamed in straight sets by Olivet Nazarene

DEFIANCE, Ohio - The Defiance Yellow Jackets suffered a straight-set defeat in non-conference action against the Olivet Nazarene Tigers (25-16, 25-18, 25-19) at the Karl H. Weaner Center on Friday night.

The Yellow Jackets (3-9, 2-6 WHAC) led briefly in the second and third sets but were unable to find their rhythm against the Tigers (6-11, 1-3 CCAC), who hit the ball well all night with 38 kills to just 14 attack errors.

Olivet Nazarene dominated the opening set and hit .542 as a team with just 3 attack errors. The Tigers jumped out to an 11-5 lead to trigger a DC timeout and led by as many as 9 points before closing out the set. DC was competitive through the first half of the following two sets. They enjoyed an early lead in the second that slipped to an 8-8 tie and a 13-12 deficit, but the Tigers rolled to win 8 of 9 points to capture the second set momentum. The third was similar as DC remained within 2 points at 12-10 as the Tigers inched away to clinch the match.

Despite the fewest points of any set, Defiance had its most efficient hitting set to start the night with 9 kills to 3 errors in the first set. For the match, the Yellow Jackets committed 34 errors between the attack and service game. Philippe Meny led DC with 7 kills followed by Thaddeus Setla with 6. Matthew Schulte led the team with 8 digs followed by Oniel Alvarez with 7. Adam Sutton was credited with 20 assists out of 23 total team kills.

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The Yellow Jackets hit the road on Saturday to continue conference play against the Mount Vernon Nazarene Cougars. First serve is scheduled for 2 p.m.

-JACKETS-