The Dordt Defender men's volleyball team fell just short in its upset bid in GPAC play of reigning champion Jamestown on the road Friday night. The match went the limit with Jamestown securing the victory 25-16, 23-25, 25-22, 28-30, 15-13. The match lasted well over two hours as the Jimmies grabbed the early conference lead.
A 6-0 run gave the Jimmies a 15-7 lead in set one on the way to a 25-16 advantage but Dordt responded by taking a 7-6 lead in set two after getting down 6-3. The eventual five point run lasted up to 13-13 when a service error by Jamestown again gave Dordt the lead and an attack error put the visitors up by two. The Jimmies trimmed the lead back down to one point at 16-15 but three unanswered points, including a Rob Piekarz ace serve helped establish a 19-15 edge. The Jimmies fought back to a 22-22 tie but an attack error followed by an
Andres Guzman and
Dylan Kooiman block put Dordt in position to win and they did as they traded points after it was 24-22 for a 25-23 win.
Dordt managed to take an 11-8 lead in set three but Jamestown rallied for three different one point leads up to 15-14. A service ace put the Jimmies up 16-14 and Dordt never led again. The Defenders got within 23-22 on a Guzman kill but back to back points put the 10
th rated team in the nation up 2-1 in the match.
Jamestown again grabbed the lead from Dordt in set four at 14-11 but a Guzman kill sparked a rally that ended with Dordt tying it 14-14. Jamestown was up 16-15 after a Dordt service error but four unanswered Defender points followed and the Defenders were up 19-16. The Defenders never trailed again and scored back to back points on an attack error and a
Caleb Kulesza kill for the 30-28 final.
The decisive fifth set featured eight early ties but the Jimmies took control of the short set with a kill and an attack error.
Dylan Kooiman's kill got Dordt back to within 10-9 but Dordt was never able to score back to back points to tie the set and lost 15-13.
THE NUMBERS
- Dordt had 54 kills and Jamestown 67. Dordt had a .170 kill efficiency while Jamestown had a .294 kill efficiency.
- Jamestown had an 8-5 ace serves edge while the Defenders scored nine points on blocks and Jamestown got six.
- Caleb Kulesza knocked down 17 kills and had seven digs.
- Brady Frost had 14 kills and two block assists and Andres Guzman had 13 kills and two service aces with six digs and he was in on three blocks.
- Lukas Van Groningen accounted for 45 assists and eight digs and Rob Piekarz had a team high 21 digs with two ace serves.
- Dordt is now 2-1 overall and in the conference while Jamestown is 3-0 overall and in the league.
COACH CHAD HANSON SAID
"We played strong and came up just a few moments short. This match showcased two teams that worked hard and pushed each other to compete. I'm really impressed with how resilient we were after a difficult first set. Our men are growing daily and there's a wonderful season ahead of us."
NEXT
Dordt will play four matches on Friday and Saturday, February 10 and 11 in Jamestown, North Dakota.
