The Dordt Defender men's volleyball team overcame a sluggish start to defeat St. Ambrose on Saturday, February 11 in Jamestown, North Dakota by set scores of 21-25, 25-22, 25-11, 25-16.
Dordt led 7-3 in set one and was still up 10-5 after a
Dylan Kooiman block. Six unanswered by the Bees put them in front and but Dordt had an answer with
Andres Guzman and
Luke Nelson combining for three kills in a row and
Lukas Van Groningen pushed the Defenders to a 14-11 lead with an ace serve. The Bees had an answer and led 17-15 and eventually got up 20-16. The lead proved to be too much for Dordt to make up as the Defenders got within 23-21 but no closer and fell 25-21.
The Defenders were on their heels to start set three and St. Ambrose led 9-8 before back to back attack errors put Dordt up 10-9. Dordt never trailed again and from 19-17 scored three in a row to effectively put the set out of reach and the Defenders went on to win 25-22.
The set proved to be the turning point of the match as Dordt ran off six in a row to start set three and eventually led 17-5 before winning 25-11. Dordt got up 8-4 in set four and four straight points later put the Defenders up 12-5. St. Ambrose never put a serious threat together and Dordt was a 25-16 winner with a block by
Luke Nelson and
Lukas Van Groningen ending the contest.
THE NUMBERS
COACH HANSON SAID
"A sluggish start for us in this morning match but we were able to create some better rhythms as the match continued. I'm really pleased with our in-match adjustments as well as our scrappy effort on defense to keep the rally alive. Our second and third swing opportunities will continue to be valuable for us as the season progresses."
