The Dordt Defenders advanced to the GPAC finals on Saturday afternoon with a 3-0 match win in men's volleyball play on Wednesday night, March 29. The Defenders were 25-17, 25-17, 25-19 winners over Morningside to earn a spot in the championship match against Jamestown in three days.
The Defenders were up 8-4 in set one before Morningside rallied to tie the set 9-9 and the last point in the Morningside four-point run was an ace serve for a 9-9 tie. An
Andres Guzman kill ended the run and
Dylan Kooiman and
Caleb Kulesza teamed up for a block to give Dordt a lead they never relinquished. The set wasn't clinched until Dordt went on a 6-0 run to extend a 16-14 lead to 22-14 and the Defenders secured set one 25-17.
The Mustangs had an early lead in set two and led 6-5 before
Brady Frost had a kill and an ace serve. The Mustangs had an answer and went ahead 9-7 but a Kulesza kill and an attack error tied the set and started a 5-0 run. Morningside stayed close and had the lead down to 17-15 when
Luke Nelson got back to back kills and an attack error helped Dordt to a 20-15 lead on the way to a 23-15 advantage. Dordt scored the final two points on a service error and Guzman kill for a 25-17 final.
Set three was never in doubt with an 11-4 Dordt lead. Morningside got no closer than three as Dordt moved on in the bracket with the 25-19 set win.
THE NUMBERS
- Dordt had a 47-26 kills advantage and also had a 7-3 service ace edge.
- Dordt managed a .414-.098 kill efficiency edge as the Defenders had just 11 attack errors.
- Caleb Kulesza had 14 kills with four service aces and a block assist.
- Andres Guzman accounted for 11 kills with seven digs and Brady Frost had 10 kills and both players had an ace serve.
- Luke Nelson had two block assists along with Guzman and Dylan Kooiman and Nelson had seven kills.
- Lukas Van Groningen accounted for 37 assists and Robert Piekarz had 10 digs.
- Dordt is now 16-3 and will face Jamestown for the GPAC Post Season Tournament Championship and the automatic berth at the NAIA National Championship that goes with it. The match will be Saturday, April 1 at 2:00 pm.
