DC loses at Aquinas in straight sets on Friday

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. - Defiance College men's volleyball dropped a 3-0 decision (25-13, 25-19, 25-19) to the Aquinas Saints on Friday at the Sturrus Center.

After handing the Saints (6-16, 3-10 WHAC) a loss at Defiance last month, the Yellow Jackets (5-16, 3-11 WHAC) experienced their third straight setback in conference play with five matches to go.

The Saints set the tone in the first set while the Jackets struggled to get into a rhythm, committing 12 attack errors in the opening frame. Aquinas built a 9-3 lead in the first on 5 total errors in the attack and service departments but DC hung around until the 11-8 mark when 3 straight attack errors led to a 14-8 advantage. To close the opening set, Defiance had 5 more attack errors while the Saints finished on a 7-point rally.

The second and third sets were more competitive but saw Aquinas post 25-19 wins in each to clinch the match. Aquinas had 14 and 15 kills in those sets, respectively, while DC cleaned things up on the attack with a 17 to 15 kill to error ratio the rest of the match. DC led most of the third set and were tied 17-17 before the Saints captured 8 of the last 10 volleys. 

Quinn Silverman led Defiance with 5 kills and 2 blocks. Matthew Schulte and Zander Culbertson followed with 4 kills apiece, while Oniel Alvarez had a team-high 8 digs.

UP NEXT
Defiance remains in Grand Rapids to play the Cornerstone Golden Eagles on Saturday at Mol Arena beginning at 2 p.m.

-JACKETS-