The Yellow Jackets and the Spartans Go the Distance

NORTH MANCHESTER, Ind. – The Defiance College volleyball team faced their toughest Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference match so far this season, when they battled Manchester (Ind.) University and defeated the Spartans, 3-2.

Defiance College (13-10, 4-0 HCAC) topped the Spartans (4-19, 0-5 HCAC) three games to two.

Defiance (13-10, 4-0 HCAC) came out hot in the first set, winning it by a count of 25-14.  A swarm of Yellow Jackets started off with kills.  Ari Mahaffey (Porter, Ind./Chesterton), Bree Anderson (Huntertown, Ind./Carroll), Meredith Shank (Maumee/Springfield), and Hope Neargarder (Union City/Mississinawa Valley) put down a kill each from Alicia Kalik (South Lyon, Mich./South Lyon) to start off game one.

The Yellow Jackets grabbed the lead at 6-5, in which they would never surrender, after an attacking error from Manchester (4-19, 0-5 HCAC).  A play later, Mahaffey and Kelsey Tietje (Deshler/Patrick Henry) put down a block to widen the gap to two.  The teams battled back-and-forth, with the Yellow Jackets widening their gap to 18-13 when Rebecca Kain (Orland, Ind./Prairie Heights) and Makayla Dennis (Bryan) decided to end things.  Kain then served up three straight points to get the count to 21-13.  Dennis took over with DC up 22-14 and closed out set one from there.  She capped off her three points with an ace, giving the Yellow Jackets the 25-14 game one victory.

Offensively, Mahaffey led DC in kills in set one with four and Anderson added three.

The home team batt;ed back in set number two, topping the Yellow Jackets 25-17.  DC came out swinging again.  Anderson, Mahaffey, Shank, and Tietje put down five kills for the Yellow Jackets to start the second set.  Despite the strong hits from DC, they still trailed 8-5 after Tietje's second kill in a row.  The Spartans extended their lead to 11-6 before the Yellow Jackets gained some momentum.  Neargarder and Mahaffey both recorded a kill to go along with poor play from Manchester to cut the lead to 13-12.

That would be as close as DC would get, as the Spartans went on a 12-5 run to close out the set.  Manchester took the 25-17 win to tie things up at one game apiece.  Tietje led DC in kills in the second set with three.

In set three, it was the away squad's turn to come out big and dominated the set with a 25-13 victory.  Manchester scored the first four points before Neargarder got a pass from Kalik and put it down for a kill to stop the run.  Manchester held a 7-5 lead when Mahaffey stepped up to serve and gave DC a huge boost.  She served seven straight points for the Yellow Jackets which included four aces.  By the time Manchester got Mahaffey off serve, DC was leading 12-8.

Later in the set, Kalik served back-to-back aces to take away any hope of a Manchester comeback as the Jackets went on to claim the 12-point victory and lead the overall match, 2-1, after three sets.  Statiscally, Anderson led DC in kills with three.

The two teams went to battle in the fourth set, with Manchester trying to force a fifth game and DC looking to end the match.  Defiance fell to Manchester in set four by a count 0f 25-21.

Set four was never separated by more than six points.  Anderson had a strong fourth set, putting down three kills within the first seven points for DC.  The Yellow Jackets took their last lead of set four on a kill from Neargarder.  The score stood at 10-9 at that point.  Manchester increased its lead to 18-13, then Mahaffey and Anderson put down back-to-back kills to cut the lead to three.  Anderson and Shank tried to get the Yellow Jackets back in it late, teaming together for four more kills.  It was not enough though, as Manchester took the fourth set 25-21.

With six kills, Anderson led DC in that department in the fourth set.  Shank added four of her own.

The Yellow Jackets came out blazing hot in the rubber game, quickly gaining a 4-0 lead.  Anderson and Shank helped give DC a 7-3 lead as the home team had one last push in them, battling back and cutting the lead to 8-7.  After a Manchester error, Dennis stepped up to serve with a 10-7 lead.  She looked to close out the fifth set much like she closed out the first set.  Dennis served up five straight points to take the 15-7 final set win, with the 15th point coming from a Kalik kill.

Overall for the match, Anderson led DC in kills with 15, marking the third straight match in which she has hit double-figures in kills.  Shank and Mahaffey both added 11.  Kalik eclipsed the 40 assist mark for the third time this season, ending the match with 41.  Kain dug up 25 balls to lead DC in that category.  She now has over 400 digs on the season.  Dennis added 12 digs to be the lone other Yellow Jacket in double figures.

DC will travel back across the Indiana/Ohio border on Friday (Oct. 17).   This time the Yellow Jackets will head to Franklin, Ind. for a huge HCAC matchup against Franklin College.  The two teams are the lone two undefeated squads in HCAC play left.  Start time is set for 6 pm.