Back-to-Back Champs

DEFIANCE, Ohio – For the second straight year, Defiance College has won the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference Regular Season Championship.

DC (17-10, 8-0 HCAC) topped Rose-Hulman (13-16, 4-4 HCAC) in four sets.

Things didn't start off great for DC, as they dropped the first set to Rose 25-13.

Kelsey Tietje (Deshler, Ohio / Patrick Henry) got the day started for the Yellow Jackets.  She put down a kill for the first point of the day and the 1-0 lead.

Rose would go onto take over the lead at 4-3, a lead in which they never surrendered.  DC was able to put consecutive points together only once.  Late in the set, Bree Anderson (Huntertown, Ind. / Carroll) had a kill followed by a Rose error.  DC cut the lead to 20-12 at that point, but couldn't put a run together.

Rose took the first set 25-13.

Anderson and Tietje led the way for DC in the first set with three kills apiece.

The Yellow Jackets came out with a vengeance in set number two.  DC never trailed in the set.

Back-to-back errors from the Engineers gave the home team the early 2-0 advantage.

Rose quickly scored two of its own to even up the score.

The teams would battle back and forth to an 8-7 DC advantage when Jaidyn Patridge (Toledo, Ohio / Springfield) went back to serve for the Yellow Jackets.

She served five straight points for DC that featured two kills each from Meredith Shank (Maumee, Ohio / Springfield) and Anderson.  DC held a 13-7 lead halfway through the second set.

Shank had back-to-back kills a short time later to give DC the 16-9 advantage.

Rose would score two of the next three points to try and get back into the set when Shank, Tietje, and Hope Neargarder (Union City, Ohio / Mississinawa Valley) put down three straight kills for the Yellow Jackets to give them the commanding 20-11 lead.

DC closed out the set despite a small comeback from Rose, 25-17.  Things were tied up at one set apiece.

Shank led DC in kills in set two with five.  Anderson and Tietje added four and three, respectively.

Rose came out and scored the first seven points in set three to knock DC back on its heels.  Just like good teams do though, the Yellow Jackets would battle back.

Patridge would once again serve up big points for DC.  She took over with the Yellow Jackets trailing 13-7.  With the help of two Anderson kills, Patridge cut the lead to 14-11 by the time she was done serving.

The Yellow Jackets tied things up 15-15 after three Rebecca Kain (Orland, Ind. / Prairie Heights) serves that featured two kills from Shank and another from Tietje.

DC took its first lead of the third set after an ace from Alicia Kalik (South Lyon, Mich. / South Lyon) put the home team up 17-16.

The Yellow Jackets trailed 24-23 late in set three.  With their backs against the wall, Shank took over for the Yellow Jackets.  The freshman came up with three kills to lead DC to a huge 27-25 comeback victory.

DC led two games to one after the win in set three.

Shank had a huge set for the Yellow Jackets, finishing with seven kills.  Anderson added five kills with a big set of her own.

Rose would once again come out fighting in set number four.  The away squad grabbed an early 5-1 lead.

DC once again had to play catch-up, slowly chipping away at the Engineers lead.  After a kill from Shank and an ace from Kain, DC gained a 14-13 lead midway through the fourth set.

Mahaffey and Shank both had kills for DC a short time later to give the Yellow Jackets the 18-15 lead.

Rose tried to keep it close, getting within a point at 19-18.  A kill from Neargarder gave DC some breathing room as Makayla Dennis (Bryan, Ohio / Bryan) came up to serve for the Yellow Jackets.  She scored two straight points for DC thanks to help from Anderson who had both kills.

DC would keep Rose at bay, winning 25-21 with the final kill coming from Kalik.

Anderson added five more kills to her total in set four while Shank and Mahaffey added four each.

Kalik led DC once again.  She went over the 50 assist mark for the second time in her career and the first time this season with 52 assists.  She added 14 digs in her big game.

Kain led the Yellow Jackets in digs with 21.  Patridge and Dennis added 12 and 10, respectively.

With 18 kills, Shank led the home team in that category.  Anderson added 17 kills while hitting a blistering .467%.  Tietje got into double figures in kills as well with 10.

With the win, DC not only claims its second straight HCAC title, but they also gain home court advantage for the upcoming HCAC Tournament.

First, DC will have one more regular season game left against rival Bluffton on Wednesday.  Start time is set for 7 pm.