Defiance Volleyball Loses to Ohio Wesleyan

DELAWARE, OHIO  --  The Defiance College volleyball team lost to Ohio Welseyan University, 3-1, to begin the OWU Bishop Invitational in Delaware, Ohio.

Defiance (2-7) began the match with a first set win, 25-22.  The set began in a see-saw battle until a 6-3 scoring run by Ohio Wesleyan (7-4) put the Battling Bishops in the lead, 14-9.  The Yellow Jackets rallied iwith a run of their own, outscoring OWU, 7-1, to put DC out in front, 16-15.  Later in the match with the score even at 20-20, Defiance rattled off three straight points that included a kill by freshman Jessica Davis (Delta) to take the lead for good and went on to post the 25-22 final.

The second set saw OWU jump out to an early 4-1 lead.  The Jackets later got to within a point, 7-6, on an error by the Bishops and then again two points later following another kill by Jessica Davis, 8-7.  But that was as close as DC got as OWU took control of the set with a 9-1 run to extend the margin to 17-8.  The nine-point advantage was the largest of the set for the Bishops en route to the 25-18 final and evened the overall match at 1-1.

The Jackets led by four points early in the third set as part of a 7-1 run that included back-to-back kills by sophomore Marissa Windau (Castaliz/Margaretta) which led to a 13-9 advantage.  OWU then chipped away at the deficit and eventually evened the score at 18-18 and took the lead as part of a 3-0 mini run.  The Jackets later moved back ahead on the scoreboard and led 22-20.  The set would end, however, with five unanswered points by OWU which led to a 25-22 Bishop victory.

The fourth set began with back-to-back kills by sophomore Brooke Plummer (Plain City/Jonathan Alder) and senior Hope Neargarder (Union City/Mississinawa Valley).  Later in the set, the Bishops took the lead with an 8-3 run making the score 18-13 and never relinquished the lead.  The Jackets made a final run down the stretch and got to within a pair of points, 18-16.  OWU sealed the win by outscoring DC, 7-3, to end the set with a 25-19 win and a 3-1 match victory.

Junior Meredith Shank (Maumee/Springfield) led the DC offense with 11 kills.  Windau was second with nine kills and Neargarder added eight kills.  Senior Ari Mahaffey (Porter, Ind./Chesterton) set up with offense with team-high 35 assists.  

Dennis was one of three Yellow Jackets in double figures in digs with a match-high 32.  Mahaffey was second with 15 digs and freshman Abigail Cronin (Lambertville, Mich./Cardinal Stritch Catholic) had 10 digs.  

Defiance will conclude the two-day Bishop Invitational tomorrow (Saturday, Sept. 17) with a pair of matches begining with a matchup against Westminster (Pa.) College at 10 a.m., followed by Case Western Reserve University at 2 p.m.