DC now tied atop the HCAC

DEFIANCE, Ohio – With its win over Earlham, Defiance College stays perfect in the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference.

DC (12-10, 3-0 HCAC) came out hot against Earlham (4-16, 0-3 HCAC) and never looked back as the Yellow Jackets won convincingly 3-0.

Kelsey Tietje (Deshler, Ohio / Patrick Henry) set the tone early when she received a set from Alicia Kalik (South Lyon, Mich. / South Lyon) and made the most of it, getting the kill and giving the Yellow Jackets a 1-0 lead.

Meredith Shank (Maumee, Ohio / Springfield) went up next for the Yellow Jackets, getting a kill from Kalik and getting the early 2-0 lead.

Earlham battled back to take the 3-2 lead, which was its only lead of the match.

Tietje then put down another kill to tie things up at three apiece.

Shank followed Tietje with an ace to take the lead and DC would never look back.

The teams battled back and forth to the score of 9-7 in favor of the Yellow Jackets when Makayla Dennis (Bryan, Ohio / Bryan) stepped up to serve.  She would serve ten straight points for the Yellow Jackets before an Earlham kill put her run to a stop.

During Dennis' run, she served up three aces while Bree Anderson (Huntertown, Ind. / Carroll) put down three kills and Ari Mahaffey (Porter, Ind. / Chesterton) added two.

DC would cruise onto the first set victory by a count of 25-11.

Anderson led DC in kills with four during set number one.

Rebecca Kain (Orland, Ind. / Prairie Heights) served up a clinic of her own to start the second set.  She served eight straight points, three of which came from Mahaffey kills.

The teams played even for the next 10 points after that, taking five points apiece, giving DC the 13-5 lead.

Kalik then went on yet another serving streak for Defiance.  She served six straight points, two of which were from Tietje kills.

Up 22-6, Sydney Unger (Frankfort, Ind. / Clinton Central) would come up to serve two straight aces for the Yellow Jackets.

DC closed out the set with a 25-9 win.

Mahaffey would lead the Yellow Jackets in set two with four kills.

The Yellow Jackets again came out hot in the third set.

Mahaffey and Dia Jackson (Detroit, Mich. / Canton) would team up to give DC the early 8-1 lead in the final set.

It was Shank's turn to put together a serving streak.  She served up five straight points with help from Kalik, Mahaffey, and Hope Neargarder (Union City, Ohio / Mississinawa Valley) who had one kill each.

The streak from Shank gave DC an 18-6 lead and all but sealed the victory for the Yellow Jackets.

DC would win the final set 25-15.

Anderson led the Yellow Jackets in kills with 11 on 14 attempts, good for a .786 hitting percentage.  Kalik and Tietje also hit above .500 with a .667 and .571, respectively.

Shank and Mahaffey added eight kills and seven kills, respectively.

Kalik topped the 30 assist mark with 33 on the night.

Leading DC in digs was Kain with 11 while Dennis and Shank added five apiece.

DC is now tied atop the HCAC leaderboard with a 3-0 record with Bluffton and Franklin.

The Yellow Jackets will be back in action on Wednesday, October 15 with a game at Manchester.  Start time is set for 7 pm.