Yellow Jackets Lose Season Finale

DEFIANCE, OHIO – Rival Bluffton University came to town on Wednesday night, for the last Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference matchup for Defiance College of the season.

The Beavers (20-8, 7-2 HCAC) topped DC (17-11, 8-1 HCAC), 3-0.  Bluffton also put a stop to an 18 regular-season HCAC match win streak with the victory.

Bluffton came out with the hot hand in set number one, jumping out to a 7-1 lead before a Meredith Shank (Maumee/Springfield) kill put a stop to the bleeding.  The teams then battled back-and-forth before a kill from Shank, a kill from Ari Mahaffey (Porter, Ind./Chesterton), and back-to-back Bluffton errors cut the lead to one at 15-14.  DC tied it up at 17 a short time later when Bree Anderson (Huntertown, Ind./Carroll) put down a kill followed by another Bluffton error.  Rebecca Kain (Orland, Ind./Prairie Heights) gave DC its first lead of the night when she found a hole in the defense.  DC led 20-19.

Bluffton would tie things back up before big back-to-back kills from Shank gave the Yellow Jackets a 22-20 lead.  Bluffton battled back again to retake the lead before Kelsey Tietje (Deshler/Patrick Henry) regained the lead for DC with a kill, 23-22.  DC got the lead at 24-23 but could not put the Beavers away.  A kill each from Tietje and Anderson kept the Yellow Jackets in the game, but they couldn't hold on as Bluffton took the 28-26 first set win.

Shank led DC in kills in the first set with six and Anderson added four.

Bluffton came out strong again in set number two, this time jumping out to an 8-2 lead.  Two Bluffton errors and a kill each from Mahaffey and Anderson cut the lead to 8-6.  That would be as close as DC got in set number two as Bluffton widened the gap.  DC's last push in set number two came with kills from Anderson and Mahaffey that cut the lead to 22-15.  However, the Beavers were able to close out the set 25-15 and take a 2-0 lead.

Anderson and Mahaffey led DC in kills in the second set with three apiece.

The Yellow Jackets refused to back down, battling hard against the Beavers in the third set.  DC fought to a 5-4 early set lead.  A Bluffton run was stopped by Hope Neargarder (Union City, Ohio / Mississinawa Valley) when she put down a kill to cut the lead to 10-6 in favor of Bluffton.  Another Bluffton run was stopped this time by Mahaffey and backed up by an ace from Kain that cut the lead to 15-8.  Mahaffey stopped another short Beaver run a few points later to make the score 18-10.  Jaidyn Patridge (Toledo/Springfield) then stepped up to give DC one last run.  She served four straight points that featured a Shank kill that cut the lead to 18-14.  The deficit was too much to overcome however, even with the addition of a kill each from Tietje and Shank later in the set.  Bluffton would win the 25-19 third set and the 3-0 match.

Anderson, Mahaffey, Neargarder, and Shank all had two kills in set number three.

Alicia Kalik (South Lyon, Mich./South Lyon) played well in her final regular-season match as a Yellow Jacket, giving out 25 assists and adding five digs. Kain was everywhere in the back row, leading DC in digs with 21 while adding three assists.  The freshman duo of Shank and Patridge added six digs each.  Shank and Anderson led the team in kills with nine each and Mahaffey added six.

DC will host the HCAC Tournament on Saturday-Sunday, Nov. 8-9 as the result of winning the HCAC Regular-Season Championship.  Start times and teams are still to be determined.