Volleyball falls in tough battle with Kalamazoo

DEFIANCE, Ohio - The Defiance College volleyball team dropped a match in straight sets to Kalamazoo Saturday afternoon at the Karl H. Weaner Center. The Jackets fell by scores of 17-25, 25-27, 23-25. The Hornets improve to 5-7 and the loss drops Defiance to 2-11. 

The Yellow Jackets came into today's match by winning three of the last four meetings before falling in straight sets today and this was Kalamazoo's first visit to Defiance since October 2009. 

Kalamazoo led wire-to-wire in set number. The Hornets would score the first two points of the match before a Madison Schoenauer kill put the Yellow Jackets on the board. Trailing 10-6, Defiance rallied to tie the set at 10. Courtney Maxwell served an ace and had the help of three Kalamazoo errors. The two teams would be deadlocked four times in the set at 10, 11, 12, and 13. With the set tied at 13, the Hornets went on to win the next four points and ended up winning 12 of the final 16 points to take the set.

The Yellow Jackets jumped on the Hornets in set two and built a sizable lead. A kill from Amina Chamoun and service ace from Emma Chafins, followed by two attack errors from the Hornets gave the Yellow Jackets a 12-7 lead. A kill by Kaylynn Wellman made it 18-10 Yellow Jackets. After that point is when Kalamazoo mounted a comeback. The Hornets slowly chipped away at the lead but the Yellow Jackets still held a 23-20 advantage. The Hornets tied it at 23 but the Yellow Jackets still had two set points at 24-23 and 25-24 but couldn't close it out. Facing set point, the Hornets got kills from Brittany Miller and Halley Johnson and then Rachel Meston ended the set with an ace.

Kalamazoo used that momentum to build an early lead in set three. The Hornets led 10-5 but the Yellow Jackets trimmed the deficit to one thanks to four errors from Kalamazoo that included attack errors and a bad set. The Yellow Jackets continued to claw into the deficit and tied the set at 13 once again because of errors from their opponent. Back-to-back errors again from the Hornets gave the Yellow Jackets their first lead at 18-17. Kendra Kline and Aliza Clark connected to give the Yellow Jackets a one point lead again. A kill by Kalamazoo's Taylor Stephens tied it at 22 and a service error from Halley Johnson gave Defiance a one point lead again. A service error from Madison Schoenauer handed it back to Kalamazoo with the game tied at 23. Savannah Chapie aced the next point and the Yellow Jackets could not gain control of the ball off the next serve and that's how it ended. 

Kalamazoo ended the match with 39 kills, 35 assists, and 39 digs. The Yellow Jackets finished with 28 kills, 27 assists, and 35 digs. 

Kaylynn Wellman led the team in kills with seven and Courtney Maxwell led the team with 14 assists. 

The Yellow Jackets are back in action September 30 at 5 p.m. against Hanover as HCAC play begins at the Karl H. Weaner Center.