The Dordt Defenders split their first two sets with nationally rated Mount Mercy on Saturday afternoon, March 29 but ended up losing a 3-1 decision in Cedar Rapids in Heart of American Conference play. The Defenders are now 8-10 in HAAC play with one match remaining.
Box Score (PDF)
The Defenders trailed 10-7 in set one before three straight points on kills by
Joel Van Groningen,
Cade Schmidt and
Cory Kuperus tied the set at 10-10. Several ties followed with Dordt finally grabbing the lead at 16-15 on another Kuperus kill. Dordt extended the lead to 22-20 as
Lance Vermeer got a kill but Mount Mercy rallied to tie it 22-22 and 23-23. Dordt had set point serve three times before Mount Mercy scored back to back points for a 27-26 lead and eventually scored two in a row after
Joel Van Groningen gave Dordt a 27-27 tie.
Set two had eight ties up to 17-17 and Dordt scored five points in a row to extend the lead to 21-17, turning a one point deficit into a four point lead with two blocks, a pair of kills and an attack error accounting for the run. The Mustangs eventually responded with seven out of eight points for a 24-22 lead and Dordt used a timeout. After the break
Lukas Van Groningen put an attack away and he followed with an ace serve. A Mount Mercy attack error followed and
Joel Van Groningen ended the set with a kill to even the match at 26-24.
Mount Mercy got away from Dordt in set three with an 11-4 start and Dordt got as close as four in losing 25-13 and the Mustangs pulled away from a 5-5 tie in set four to win 25-11.
Dordt is now 14-11 overall and 8-10 in the HAAC while Mount Mercy is 19-4 overall and 13-3 in the league.
Dordt concludes the regular season on Saturday, April 5 at home against Kansas Wesleyan with Heart of America Athletic Conference Quarterfinal action starting on April 12. The top-eight teams in the league make the tournament and Dordt is currently eighth in the standings.
THE NUMBERS
Dordt | 43 kills | 4 ace serves | 7 blocks | 40 assists | 46 digs
Mount Mercy | 55 kills | 8 ace serves | 52 assists | 53 digs
Dordt Leaders
Andres Guzman | 13 kills | 2 aces
Joel Van Groningen | 10 kills
Lukas Van Groningen | 36 assists
Brady Fergen | 14 digs
Â
