DC defeated in four sets by Siena Heights on Senior Night

DEFIANCE, Ohio – The Defiance Yellow Jackets lost their senior night match, 3-1, to the Siena Heights Saints on Friday night at the Karl H. Weaner Center. 

The two seniors honored on the evening were Jamia Murray, who put up 10 kill, and Aliza Clark, who appeared in her eighth match of the year.

Mistakes cost the Yellow Jackets (11-22, 5-13 WHAC) throughout the first three tightly contests sets of the match with the Saints (22-5, 15-3 WHAC). The first set started with the Saints going on a 6-0 run after dropping the first point. This initial burst of points made it difficult for the Yellow Jackets to come back while the two teams would trade short runs the rest of the way. Despite a number of service errors, the Jackets were just five points short in the opening set and outhit the Saints, 11 kills to 9. The second set was much of the same with the Saints starting out with a 6-0 run before a rally by the Yellow Jackets brought a 10-3 score to within three points.

In the third, Defiance regrouped from 10 service errors and found their rythym with a 12-2 run. The Saints immediately countered with five points of their own but it was no match as the Yellow Jackets took the third set to extend the match. 

THE TURNING POINT 
With the Yellow Jackets showing life, the Saints turned their game around and played their best set of the match to put the contest away. The set started off trading points to 1-1 before the Saints took seven straight. The Saints followed that up with a near mistake-free final set as they put up 16 kills to only three attack errors with a statement in the fourth. 

INSIDE THE NUMBERS 

• The Yellow Jackets finished the regular season 11-22 and 5-13 in the WHAC, signifying a significant turnaround after winning 12 matches over the previous three seasons. DC's five conference wins also equaled the program total since 2020.
• Gabby Rodriguez notched a match-high 14 kills and was also second on the team with 11 digs.
• Jamia Murray joined Rodriguez in double figures in kills with 10 during the final home contest of her career.
• Kylie Anderson had an impressive 21 assists to her name as the team's primary setter. Kirsten Vanisacker had 13 assists over two sets of action, filling in for the injured Amina Chamoun. 
• The Yellow Jackets as a team combined for a season-high 18 service errors. 
• Jaelyn Tomoletz continues to be impressive at the net as she had three more solo blocks and three block assists on the evening. 
• Aubrey Bates for the Saints had 32 of their 34 assists.

UP NEXT 
The Yellow Jackets begin the WHAC Tournament with the Play-In Round on Monday. Defiance is the No. 10 seed and travels to No. 7 seed Madonna.

-JACKETS-