Volleyball Drops HCAC Opener at Rose-Hulman

TERRE HAUTE, Ind. – The 2009 Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference schedule got off to a frustrating start for the Yellow Jackets on Saturday afternoon, as the DC volleyball team fell in five sets at Rose-Hulman.

Defiance won the first two sets, 25-23 and 25-21, to get just one set from opening the HCAC portion of the season on a high note but failed to put away the determined Engineer squad.

Rose-Hulman stormed back from the two-set deficit with 25-9, 25-16 and 15-12 victories in the final three sets to complete the comeback.

Danyel Lipps slammed down 17 kills to go with 14 digs, while Ashlyn Howell picked up 11 kills in the losing effort. Kelsey Ferguson tossed up 19 assists to go with 12 digs and Sara Porter added 13 digs.

The Jackets (11-6, 0-1 HCAC) will be back home for their next match when they host Mount St. Joseph and Kenyon on October 3. DC will take on MSJ at noon, before challenging Kenyon in a 4:00 pm contest.

DC's Lipps will start the MSJ contest just three kills shy of surpassing Nikki Retcher (2001-2004) as the program's all-time leader in kills. Lipps currently has 1,136 kills in her four-year career with the Purple and Gold.