DC loses a heartbreaker to RCU, Brodbeck blasts 26 kills

DEFIANCE, Ohio – The Defiance Yellow Jackets took the Rochester Christian Warriors to five sets at the Weaner Center on Friday night but the home squad came up short in a 3-2 loss for DC (15-25, 25-22, 25-21, 26-28, 13-15).

The Yellow Jackets (14-12, 7-7 WHAC) had match point three times during the fourth set but the Warriors (16-8, 10-4 WHAC) answered each time and prevailed to force a fifth set. Defiance overcame an 8-5 hole in the fifth set and took the lead to 11-9 with a string of kills by Taylor Craft. However, the Warriors responded and tied things up at 13-13 before a pair of Defiance errors closed out the match. On the match point, Defiance set up a dialed-in Chaney Brodbeck to try to even the score and extend the match again but her attack landed less than a foot beyond the back line to award the final point to the Warriors.

Brodbeck had a stellar match that nearly made history at DC. With 26 kills, the Archbold product erupted with 10 kills in the fourth set after a total of 13 through the first three.

Despite a 25-15 loss in the first set, the Yellow Jackets came alive in the second to even the match. DC outswung the Warriors in the third set but the pivotal set remained close throughout. Gabby Rodriguez delivered a big kill to extend DC's lead to 20-14 before an RCU comeback. Rodriguez found the ball again to slam the ball down for Defiance to go up by two, 23-21. Brodbeck followed with a service ace and Sarah Hirschy smacked the clincher to put the Jackets ahead 2-1.

The loss drops DC to 2-2 in 5-set matches despite a resilient effort against a team that swept the Jackets last month.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS

• Chaney Brodbeck's 26 kills were one shy of tying the school record, which has happened twice by Danyell Lipps in 2007 and Chelsea Ludeman in 2013. During the night, she surpassed 300 kills for the season to DC their first 300-kill season since 2019.
• After setting a career-high with 41 assists on Wednesday night, Haley Hammer got credit for 52 assists to set a new personal bar. It was the most in a match since Brianna Wheeler set up 60 kills in a match in 2019.
• Jaelyn Tomoletz surpassed 500 career kills during DC's turnaround second set. She finished with six kills and was in on a pair of blocks to pick up 7.5 points. 
• Sarah Hirschy had double-digit kills for the second straight match, setting a new season-high with 12.
• Taylor Craft logged 10 kills for her second straight match in double figures, and did so in an efficient manner with just four errors.

UP NEXT
The Yellow Jackets are on the road this Saturday with a trip to Lawrence Tech. The first serve is scheduled for 2 p.m.

-JACKETS-