The Dordt Defender men's volleyball team started its four-match weekend with a 3-1 win over UC-Merced in a classic hosted by Jamestown. The Defenders won a pair of narrow decisions in sets three and four to secure the win.
Dordt was leading 4-3 in set one when a UC-Merced player went to the floor with a leg injury and had to be attended to by medical staff. After a long delay play resumed and Dordt used a six point run and a five point run to push in front 17-9 and eventually won set one 25-12.
The Bobcats regrouped in set two and used a four point run to lead 13-8 and UC Merced went on to hold the Defenders at bay, not allowing Dordt to get closer than two points in securing a 25-21 win.
Brady Frost had a pair of early kills in set three and he added a third to get Dordt up 8-2. Dordt maintained at least a two point lead up to 22-20 and 23-21. An
Andres Guzman kill put the Defenders up 24-21 and
Caleb Kulesza ended the set with a kill for a 25-22 win.
UC-Merced had an early lead in set four but Dordt rallied to tie it 8-8 on a service error and added a point off a block by
Dylan Kooiman and Guzman and a kill by Guzman. An attack error gave Dordt an 11-8 lead but the Bobcats came back to tie the set 13-13. The Dordt lead again pushed out to 16-13 but UC-Merced got back to even at 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21 and 22. The Bobcats looked poised to push the match to a fifth set with a kill for a 23-22 lead but back to back attack errors put Dordt up 24-23 and
Brady Frost got a solo block to end the match with a 25-23 Dordt win.
THE NUMBERS
COACH CHAD HANSON SAID
"We played with a strong focus and discipline in an important non-conference match against a quality opponent in UC-Merced. Our team attacking struggled to get a consistent rhythm but we were able to find success in other areas including our serving, passing and blocking."
