Defiance Falls to Adrian

ADRIAN, MICH.- The Defiance College volleyball team traveled to Adrian, Mich. for a non-conference matchup against Adrian (Mich.) College, but fell in four sets to the Bulldogs, 3-1.  

Adrian (12-8) went on a 12-1 run to take control of the first set. Defiance (6-12) looked to play catch-up the rest of the way, but would get no closer than seven points that included a 19-12 deficit following a serving error by the Bulldogs.  Adrian then tallied the final six points it needed to claim the set and take a 1-0 match lead. 

The second set looked to start out the same as the first as the Bulldogs quickly built a 5-1 advantage.  But the Yellow Jackets rallied with a 5-1 run of their own that included a pair of kills from freshman Emma Seitz (Toledo/Toledo Catholic Central) to even the score at 6-6. The remainder of the set was played at a back-and-forth pace with the teams swapping leads. DC led by as many as three points on several occasions, but the two teams battled to a 24-24 tie later in the set.  Following a kill by sophomore Marissa Windau (Castalia/Margaretta) that gave the Jackets a 25-24 edge, the set would end on an attack error by the Bulldogs, sealing a 26-24 win for DC and evening the match at 1-1.

In the third set, Adrian jumped out to a 9-2 advantage with DC's points coming on a kill by junior Meredith Shank (Maumee/Springfield) and a Bulldog attack error. Adrian slowly began to pull away and led by as many as 13 points at 22-9.  Defiance then tallied five straight points on back-to-back kills by Shank and Windau, and then three consecutive aces by freshman Abigail Cronin (Lambertville, Mich./Cardinal Stritch Catholic) to make the score 22-14.  The run would end in an error and two straight additional points by Adrian, gave the Bulldogs the win, 25-14. 

Adrian began the fourth set with consecutive points to take and early lead.  Defiance then went on a 3-1 mini run that ended in a kill by senior Hope Neargarder (Union City/Mississinawa Valley) to even the set at 3-3.  The Jackets later recorded a one-point lead, 12-11, but the Bulldogs came right back to regain control and never trailed again.  DC pulled to within four points late, 22-18, but Adrian tallied the final points it needed to claim a 25-19 set victory and the overall match by the final of 3-1.

Seitz led the DC offense with 14 kills in 27 attempts for a .407 attack percentage.  Fellow freshman Jessica Davis (Delta) set up the offense with 30 assists and Cronin posted a team-best four aces.

Defensively, two Yellow Jackets finished in double figures in digs with senior Makayla Dennis (Bryan) leading the way with 18.  Junior Jaidyn Patridge (Toledo/Springfield) added 13 digs.  Shank and sophomore Brooke Plummer (Plain City/Jonathan Alder) both had two blocks to lead the Jackets.

Defiance will return to play on Wednesday, Oct. 19 when they travel to Anderson, Ind. to take on Anderson (Ind.) University in a Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference match at 7 p.m.