Yellow Jackets Breeze Past Earlham in HCAC Opener

DEFIANCE, Ohio – The Defiance College volleyball team opened up Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference play on Wednesday evening against Earlham College. The Purple and Gold silenced the Quaker attack and won in straight sets by scores of 25-8, 25-13 and 25-18.

The Jackets dominated play from the opening serve, as DC recorded a sparkling attacking percentage of .435 on 12 kills in 23 attempts while only registering two attacking errors in set number one. Sophomore Bree Anderson led the attack in the first set with seven kills on 10 attempts. The 25-8 opening set was the first time the Jackets held an opponent to single digits in a non-fifth set since October 17, 2009 in a win over Marygrove.

DC kept up the intensity and pressure in the second set, as the Jackets jumped out to a quick 20-9 lead before finishing the set at 25-13. Defiance recorded 14 kills in the second set and held Earlham to a match-low four kills.

The third set began the same as the previous two with the Purple and Gold imposing its will on the Quakers, as Defiance opened up a 19-10 lead midway through the set. Earlham battled back with an 8-0 run to cut the lead to 19-18 before Defiance used a 6-0 Katey McQueary serving barrage of its own to win the set 25-18.

The Yellow Jackets recorded a number of impressive feats in the win. The Purple and Gold led from start to finish without trailing or being tied at any point in the match, and the straight-set victory marked the first time since the 2009 season that DC won its conference opener in straight-set fashion.

Leading the way for the Jackets was junior Chelsea Ludeman and Anderson. Ludeman recorded a Yellow Jacket season-best attacking percentage of .556 in the victory while also setting DC's best mark on the year for kills in a three-set match with 17. Not too far behind Ludeman was Anderson who recorded 15 kills with an attacking percentage of .367.

Setting up the kills for Defiance was sophomore Alicia Kalik, who reached the 40-assist mark for the fourth time this season. The sophomore reached the 40-assist mark in a three set match for the second time in her illustrious career. Anchoring the DC defense was senior Lindsay McDaniel, who was the only Jacket to record double-digit dig totals with 15.

With the victory, the Jackets improve their record to 10-8 on the season and 1-0 in HCAC action. The Purple and Gold will face its first conference road test on Saturday, September 29, as the squad travels to Franklin to take on the Grizzlies. The match is slated to start at 1:00 p.m. followed by a match against IU-Kokomo at 3:00 p.m.