ONU Tops DC 3-0 for Second Time This Season

ADA, OHIO – The Defiance College volleyball team traveled to Ada for a non-conference matchup against Ohio Northern University, but fell on the losing end of a 3-0 decision.  It marked the second matchup with the Polar Bears this season.

Defiance (9-10) came out firing on all cylinders early, quickly knocking the Polar Bears back on their heels.  The Yellow Jackets jumped out to an 8-3 lead thanks in large part to two kills from Ari Mahaffey (Porter, Ind./Chesterton) and a kill each from Hope Neargarder (Union City/Mississinawa Valley) and Bree Anderson (Huntertown, Ind./Carroll).

ONU (12-6) then went on a 6-0 run to regain the lead 9-8 before an Anderson kill would tie it back up.  A kill from freshman Meredith Shank (Maumee/Springfield) gave DC its last lead of the first set at 11-10, but ONU closed set one on a 15-7 run to take it 25-18.

Anderson led the DC offense in kills in set one with five.

Set two started the same way set one ended with the home team going on a big run.  ONU started on a 9-2 streak before an Alicia Kalik (South Lyon, Mich./South Lyon) kill put an end to it.  The Jackets battled back into the game with kills from Kalik, Shank, and Anderson to cut the lead to 9-6.  That would be as close as DC got in the second set as ONU took the 2-0 with a 25-12 set two win.

Kalik, Mahaffey, and Shank lead the Yellow Jackets in set two offensively with two kills apiece.

The Yellow Jackets scored the first point in set number three as they tried to get back into the match.  ONU slowly widened the gap, but the away squad wouldn't go down without a fight.  Four different times, DC cut the lead to five at 9-4, 10-5, 11-6, and 12-7 by way of kills from Anderson, Kalik, Mahaffey, and Shank, respectively.  Jaidyn Patridge (Toledo/Springfield) served up an ace to cut the lead down to 12-8 to put the pressure on ONU.  DC would keep it within four two points later when Neargarder and Anderson went up to block an attack from the Polar Bears making the score 13-9.  Back-to-back kills from Anderson got DC within three at 14-11, but the Jackets could get no closer as ONU went on to win the third set at 25-16, completing the straight set sweep.

Anderson lead DC in kills for the night with 10 and Mahaffey added eight.  Kalik put up a double-double with 21 assists and 10 digs.  Rebecca Kain (Orland, Ind./Prairie Heights) had a strong showing in the back row with 19 digs.

DC will travel to Cincinnati to participate in a tri-match with Ohio Christian University and Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference rival College of Mount St. Joseph on Saturday (Oct. 4).  They will play the host school, MSJ, first with a start time of 1:00 pm.