Kalik becomes DC’s all-time assists leader in weekend sweep

TERRA HAUTE, Ind. – The Defiance College volleyball team pushed its win streak to 10 on Saturday, October 26, as DC shutout Rose-Hulman and topped Illinois Wesleyan 3-1. In the process, junior Alicia Kalik set her way into the DC record books.

Kalik (South Lyon, Mich./South Lyon) has now totaled 2,703 assists in her Yellow Jacket career, passing Megan Thigpen who was a Yellow Jacket setter from 1999-2002. The junior has notched this great achievement in only 84 matches and has a career 9.19 assists per set average.

Now sitting at 966 assists in 2013 alone, Kalik leads the conference in the category and the mark is already her career high for a single season.

In the Purple and Gold's first contest of the day, the Fightin' Engineers of Rose-Hulman didn't put up much of a fight, as DC won decisively by scores of 25-16, 25-8 and 25-15.

The Yellow Jackets attack was led by junior Bree Anderson (Huntertown, Ind./Carroll), who chalked up 11 kills on a .476 attack percentage. Senior Chelsea Ludeman (Napoleon, Ohio/Napoleon) chipped in with nine kills and freshman Kelsey Tietje (Deshler, Ohio/Patrick Henry) added seven on only nine attempts.

As a team, DC was very efficient on offense. It compiled 40 kills on 92 attempts (.380 pct.) with only five errors.

At the defensive end, sophomore Rebecca Kain (Orland, Ind./Prairie Heights) paced the squad with 19 digs and was followed closely by Kalik who totaled 18, to go along with 27 assists.

After the important victory over RHIT, DC took to the court to battle the Titans of Illinois Wesleyan. The Purple and Gold struggled early, but recovered to take their 10th win in a row by set scores of 22-25, 25-12, 25-18 and 25-11. Defiance has won all 11 neutral-court matches on the season.

Ludeman was the top Yellow Jacket in the contest, tallying 13 kills (.462 pct.), 13 digs and five total blocks (three solo, two assists). Senior Lexy Pierce (Wauseon, Ohio/Wauseon) also added nine kills (.474 pct.) and four block assists.

Kain grabbed a team high 19 digs for the second time on the afternoon and senior Christa Seidenstricker (Plain City, Ohio/Jonathan Alder) notched 17 digs to go along with six kills and four service aces.

Defiance still remains atop the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference at 21-5 (7-0 HCAC), while Rose-Hulman moves to 13-17 (3-4 HCAC). Illinois Wesleyan drops to 9-18 on the year.

DC's 10-game winning streak is the longest since 2008 and its seven victories in HCAC play are the most since the college joined the conference in 2000. Defiance has also now held its opponent to under a .100 attack percentage in five-straight matches.

The Yellow Jackets will head down the road in their next matchup, as they take on the Bluffton Beavers in their annual rivalry game. It is an even bigger match than usual, as a DC win would secure at least a share of the HCAC regular-season title and the right to host the conference tournament. Action for the contest will begin at 7 p.m. in the Sommer Center.