Yellow Jackets Late Rally Comes Up Short

OBERLIN, OHIO - The Yellow Jackets late rally came up short as they fell in five sets (25-27, 25-21, 25-10, 24-26, 10-15) to Marietta on Friday afternoon at Oberlin.

After dropping set one, Defiance (0-4) rallied behind the attack of Marissa Windau (Castalia/Margaretta) who pulled the Yellow Jackets within 5-8 in set two. DC continued to claw its way back into the set as kills by Windau and Jenni Davis (Delta) tied the contest at 15-15.  The two teams continued to exchange points for much of the set before a Marietta miscue knotted the game at one set a piece.

The Yellow Jackets carried the momentum into set three dominating the Pioneers 25-10. Defiance used a nine point rally led by the service of Davis with four consecutive aces to capture the 16-8 advantage. DC continued on the attack as Madison Hollis (Burlington, Ky./Randall K. Cooper) connected with Emma Seitz (Toledo/Central Catholic) to capture the win 25-10. 

In set four, DC jumped out to an early 9-3 lead following a Pioneer miscue. Marietta slowly chipped away at the Yellow Jacket lead rattling off the final four points of the set to tie the contest at two sets a piece. 

Defiance came out on the attack in the final set capturing the early 5-0 lead following back-to-back DC kills. However, Marietta continued to hang around using a four point rally to capture the 11-9 lead. After a DC service ace, the Pioneers went on to score the final two points en route to the victory. 

The Yellow Jackets were led by Brooke Plummer (Plain City/Jonathan Alder) with a team-high 14 kills, Seitz with 11 kills, and Windau with 10 kills. Hollis finished the contest with a season-best 47 assists. 

Defiance returns to action Saturday, Sept. 9 as they take on Mt. Aloysius, Pa. at noon, followed by host Oberlin at 4:00 p.m.