Volleyball Splits Final Matches of ONU Invitational

ADA, OHIO  --  The Defiance College volleyball team split a pair of matches on Saturday to wrap up the Ohio Northern Invitational in Ada, Ohio. The Yellow Jackets opened the day with a four-set victory over Trine (Ind.), 3-1, while they fell in the final match of the day to Thomas More (Ky.) in four sets, 3-1.

Defiance (1-2) put themselves into a 5-0 hole to open the match against Trine (0-4). The teams would exchange points until the score got to 11-5, before another spurt put the Thunder ahead 15-6. The Trine lead would grow to as high as 22-11 before the Jackets fell 25-16.

The second set was played fairly even, with plenty of back-and-forth action. Neither team led by more than two points for the first half of the set. With the score sitting even at 11-11, DC added five of the next seven points to put them ahead, 16-13. Trine would battle back to cut the deficit to 19-18 before Ari Mahaffey (Porter, Ind./Chesterton) served Defiance to five straight points to give Defiance a 25-19 second set win and even the match.

The third set was as close as the second, as it was level at 8-8 to open. Four straight points from Trine put the Yellow Jackets behind 12-8. DC battled back and took their first lead on a kill by sophomore Marissa Windau (Castallia/Margaretta) to put the Yellow Jackets ahead 17-16. The set would sit tied at 20-20 when DC finished it with five consecutive points, wrapped up by an ace by Windau to put DC ahead 2-1 in the match.

The Yellow Jackets buried the Thunder from the start in set four, as DC went ahead 15-3 and never looked back, as they finished the set with a 25-16 win and to notch Defiance's first victory of 2016.

Junior Meredith Shank (Maumee/Springfield) and Emma Seitz (Toledo/Central Catholic) led Defiance on the attack with ten kills apiece. Mahaffey did a little bit of everything, as well, finishing with nine kills, 17 assists, and nine digs. Senior Dia Jackson (Detroit, Mich./Canton) led the Yellow Jackets defensively with 20 digs, while sophomore Megan Overmann (Lorain/Marion L. Steele) added 12 digs and led DC with 24 assists. Senior Makayla Dennis (Bryan) impressed the crowd with five service aces while also garnering 10 digs.

The second match did not go as well for the Yellow Jackets, as they fell to Thomas More in four sets.

DC came out firing to start the second match, as junior Jaidyn Patridge (Toledo/Springfield) and Windau served the Yellow Jackets to a 9-1 advantage. The Saints recovered quickly, getting to within two points (13-11). DC then added four in a row to get the lead back to 17-11 before Thomas More rallied to score 13 of the last 16 points in the set to take it 25-20.

Six straight points early in set number two made it appear that the Saints would roll once again. DC trailed, 12-5, before rallying to garner a 6-1 spurt to get back within one point at 13-12. After the Saints pushed it back to four, the teams continued to battle before Thomas More finally prevailed in the set, 25-20.

Sophomore Brooke Plummer (Plain City/Jonothan Alder) served the Jackets to seven straight points and a 10-3 advantage early in the third. Thomas More came right back to tie the match, 13-13, and eventually take a 17-15 lead. DC answered with four of the next five points to flip the script and lead 20-18, a lead they would hang onto to keep the match going with a 25-22 third set win.

Windau would start DC up with a 5-1 lead in the fourth set, but the Saints then scored ten of the next 11 points to put Thomas More ahead 11-6 to take the momentum right out from under Defiance. DC didn't give up as they later evened the set at 14-14. The Saints became too much as they scored the last five points of the match en route to a 25-18 win for the 3-1 overall match victory.

DC was led on the attack by Shank with nine kills. Junior Danielle Robbins (Westland, Mich./Wayne Memorial) added seven kills and also finished with seven digs. Mahaffey patrolled the setter position with 25 assists and also tallied nine digs defensively. Jackson and Patridge led the Yellow Jackets in digs with 16 and 13 respectively.

Following the conlcusion of the Invitational, Windau was selected as a member of the All-Tournament Team as she finished the three matches with 16 kills and 14 digs.

Defiance will look to get back on the winning track next weekend as they will participate in the Marcia French Tournament, hosted by Baldwin Wallace University and Case Western Reserve University. DC will face Baldwin Wallace and Mount Union on Friday, Sept. 9 in Berea, Ohio while they will wrap up the weekend with Case and Denison on Saturday, Sept. 10 in University Circle, Ohio.