The Dordt University volleyball team earned its third consecutive win with a 3-0 sweep (25-21, 25-19, 25-19) against Briar Cliff in a conference match played tonight at the Newman-Flanagan Center in Sioux City, Iowa.
The Defenders stay unbeaten in conference play and improve to 2-0 (GPAC), 8-4 overall; Briar Cliff slips to 0-2 in the conference, 6-8 overall.
Tarren Spartz put away a match-high 13 kills, including several that sparked a huge rally in the Defenders come-from-behind win in set two.
Ellie Weg put away eight kills and both
Ellie Dokter and
Haley Kuperus finished with seven kills each.
How It Happened:
- 1st Set:
- the Defenders were in control for most of the first set as they scored the first three points and raced out to a 5-0 advantage
- a kill by Weg followed by a Chargers error put Dordt in front 12-7 and forced BCU into a timeout
- the host Chargers rallied by scoring seven of the next nine points to tie the score 14-14
- the teams traded points until Spartz put away back-to-back kills on the front end of a 3-0 rally to put Dordt in front for good 20-17
- BCU made it a one-point lead (22-21) but successful attacks by Myra Carlson and Weg along with a Chargers error finished off set one
- 2nd Set:
- Dordt fell behind early (6-3) and by as much as four at two different points in the set
- trailing 16-12, an ace serve by Kylie Beckering began a 4-1 Defenders run to cut the lead down to one and force the Chargers into a timeout
- a kill from Carlson tied the score at 17 and was followed by six additional Dordt points to push the lead to 23-17; in total, Dordt outscored BCU 11-1 during the surge
- successful attacks from Spartz and Carlson on set point gave the Defenders a 25-19 win and a 2-0 set lead
- 3rd Set:
- Dordt trailed 1-0 but then scored eight of the next 11 points to take a commanding 8-4 lead
- an ace by Dokter followed by kills from Kelly McArthur, Kuperus and Weg pushed Dordt's lead to 17-7 and forced the Chargers into a timeout
- the Defenders traded points the rest of the way, finishing off the host Chargers with consecutive kills by Kuperus
By the Numbers:
- Dordt hit .205 (46 kills, 117 attempts, 22 errors) and limited the Chargers to 0% (20 kills, 100 attempts, 20 errors)
- Dordt held the advantage in ace serves (3-2)
- Briar Cliff held the edge in blocks (11-6)
- Spartz led the way with 13 kills, her eighth match with 10-plus kills this season
- Carlee Jackson and Kelly McArthur put up 21 and 19 assists, respectively
- Madison Vis (15 digs) and Dokter (12 digs) led the Defenders in the backrow
- Emma Brenelli led Briar Cliff with eight kills
