The Dordt Defender men's volleyball team earned the first Heart of America Athletic Conference match win of the season on Tuesday night, February 18 against Graceland in Lamoni, Iowa. The Defenders turned in wins of 25-14, 25-16, 25-17 to improve to 7-4 overall.
Box Score (PDF)
Dordt took control in set one by getting up 6-3 after a
Lance Vermeer kill but the hosts rallied back to a 7-6 deficit. A five-point run eventually put the Defenders up 14-7 with
Andres Guzman accounting for a pair of kills and
Lukas Van Groningen had a service ace in the run. Dordt maintained control the rest of the set and finished the 25-14 win on a block by
Joel Van Groningen.
Dordt never trailed in set two but the hosts did have the set tied at 7-7 before Dordt used a 7-2 advantage to get up 14-9 and used kills by
Joel Van Groningen, Guzman and Vermeer to finish the sequence. Dordt again pulled away in the second half of the set and won 25-16.
Dordt was down in set three by an 8-7 margin but the Defenders took the lead with three straight points and never trailed again, getting ahead 21-13 as they controlled the set and finished with the 25-17 sweep win.
THE NUMBERS
DORDT | 36 kills | .500 kill% | 5 aces | 5 blocks | 24 digs
GRACELAND | 21 kills | .060 kill% | 1 ace | 2 blocks | 15 digs
Dordt Leaders
Lance Vermeer | 9 k
Andres Guzman | 7 k
Cory Kuperus | 6 k
Lukas Van Groningen | 35 ast | 2 aces
Brady Fergen | 11 d
COACH CHAD HANSON SAID
"Our first win in the Heart of America Athletic Conference feels good. We played clean volleyball and brought a focused competitive demeanor to the match. Having our middles get quality offensive attacks was important for the overall development of our offense. This match further helped us in several categories of our system."
NEXT
Dordt will host Missouri Baptist on Friday night, February 21 and will host University of Health Sciences & Pharmacy on Saturday afternoon.
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