DC advances past HCAC Semifinals

DEFIANCE, Ohio – Defiance College took down Franklin College in straight sets in a Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference semifinal matchup on Saturday afternoon.

DC (18-11, 8-1 HCAC) cruised past Franklin (17-14, 5-4 HCAC) in straight sets.

Freshman Meredith Shank (Maumee, Ohio / Springfield) started things off for DC in her first collegiate postseason appearance.  She got a pass from Alicia Kalik (South Lyon, Mich. / South Lyon) and put it down for the first point of the match.

A quick point from Franklin tied things up before DC went on a four point run to gain the early momentum.

After another point from FC, Bree Anderson (Huntertown, Ind. / Carroll) had back-to-back kills to give DC a 7-2 lead.

The Grizzlies then battled back to tie things up at seven when Kalik found a kill to stop the bleeding.

The teams battled back and forth with neither team able to find much of a run.  Franklin led late in the match at 17-15 when Shank and Ari Mahaffey (Porter, Ind. / Chesterton) scored a kill each to tie things up.

DC started pulling away late after a big block by Hope Neargarder (Union City, Ohio / Mississinawa Valley) and Kelsey Tietje (Deshler, Ohio / Patrick Henry) gave the Yellow Jackets a 23-20 lead.  DC won the set 25-21.

Anderson led the way in set number one with five kills.

The Grizzlies came out hot in the second set, jumping out to a 5-0 lead before Mahaffey put down a kill to stop the early run.

DC battled back to take the lead at 8-7 following a kill from Shank and Kalik and three more from Anderson.

Makayla Dennis (Bryan, Ohio / Bryan) stepped up to serve two points later at 9-8 and she put up seven straight points for DC.  Fellow sophomore Tietje helped Dennis out a lot in those points, slamming down three kills.

Neargarder drilled back-to-back kills a short time later to give the Yellow Jackets a commanding 19-10 lead.

The teams traded points until an Anderson kill gave DC the second set win at 25-17.

Anderson led the way once again for DC, with six kills in the second set.  Tietje added four of her own.

Shank got things started once again in the third set with a kill to give DC the first point of the set.  Rebecca Kain (Orland, Ind. / Prairie Heights) served up five straight points for the Yellow Jackets a short time later that featured kills from Mahaffey, Anderson, and Neargarder.  DC led 8-2 early.

FC scored three straight before Anderson put down yet another kill to keep DC comfortably ahead at 9-5.  Caroline Hesterman (Fort Wayne, Ind. / North Side) scored on four straight serves for the Yellow Jackets with help from Anderson who had two more kills.  DC held a commanding 13-5 lead at that point.

The two teams battled back and forth before Franklin went on a small run to cut the lead to 17-13.  Mahaffey put a stop to the run with a kill, which was followed up by a Kalik kill and an Anderson kill.  DC held the late 20-13 lead.

Franklin put together one last push, cutting the lead to just two at 23-21.  The Grizzlies had a costly service error which was followed up with a Tietje kill the point after to give DC the 25-21 win.

Anderson added seven kills in the third set to her total.  She had 18 kills in the match, which led the Yellow Jackets.  Tietje added nine kills.

Kalik dished out 37 assists and added seven digs.

Kain led the back row with 15 digs.  Dia Jackson (Detroit, Mich. / Canton) also got into double figures in digs with 11 while Hesterman added nine.

The Yellow Jackets will be back in action tomorrow at 1:00 pm.  They host Bluffton, the winner advances to the NCAA Tournament.