Jackets rally but fall in five sets at Concordia

ANN ARBOR, Mich. - The Defiance Yellow Jackets staved off elimination after losing the first two sets on Wednesday but lost the deciding fifth set 15-12 to the Concordia Cardinals.

After a tightly contested first set went to the Cardinals (9-8, 4-2 WHAC), Concordia erased an 8-4 deficit and took the second set 25-19. However, the Yellow Jackets (7-10, 1-4 WHAC) found their rythym in the third set by converting 25 percent of attacks into points, their highest rate of the match, to keep play going. DC led for the entirety of the fourth set as well despite needing an extra point to clinch the set, 26-24.

THE TURNING POINT
With multiple pivots through the first four sets, Concordia took command early in the decisive fifth set by rallying to four straight points and a five-point streak to take an 11-6 advantage. While Defiance rallied back to within one point at 13-12 with a pair of kills from Shelby Clements and one by Gabby Rodriguez, the Cardinals withstood DC's challenge to take the home court win.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS

• The Yellow Jackets fell to 0-5 in five-set matches, including 0-2 in such matches in conference play.
• Defiance set a single-match high for the season with 64 kills in the match.
• The Jackets also had four different players with double-digit kills: Chaney Brodbeck (15), Gabby Rodriguez (14), Jamia Murray (14) and Shelby Clements (12). Rodriguez had the team's highest hitting percentage of .226.
• Amina Chamoun dished out a season-high 33 assists while Kirsten Vanisacker set up 16 kills, marking a new personal best.
• Clements led the defensive side with 25 digs, the most by a Yellow Jacket in a match this year. Brodbeck (20) and Kaylee Dickinson (23) also eclipsed 20 digs on the night.
• DC was also very active at the net with 18 block assists led by Abby Altizer's five and Jaelyn Tomoletz with four more.

UP NEXT
The Yellow Jackets host undefeated and No. 16 Mount Vernon Nazarene on Friday. First serve at the Karl H. Weaner Center is scheduled for 7 p.m.

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