The Dordt Defenders came from behind to win set three and won a Heart of America Athletic Conference match against Ottawa on the road on Friday night in Ottawa, Kansas. The Defenders won the match by set scores of 25-21, 21-25, 25-23, 23-25, 15-8.
Box Score (PDF)
Dordt took the lead for good in set one on an attack error to lead 12-11 and held off the hosts after they tied it 15-15. Dordt pushed the lead to 21-17 on a block by
Lance Vermeer and
Lukas Van Groningen and the Braves were never closer than three. The Braves came back to win set two and even the match, keeping the Defenders at bay as the visitors got as close as two on several occasions.
Ottawa appeared primed to take a 2-1 lead with a 22-19 lead after back to back points.
Andres Guzman got back to back kills out of a Dordt timeout and then he teamed up with
Cory Kuperus for a block to tie the score at 22-22. An attack error gave Dordt the lead and after a blocking error by Dordt the Defenders got a kill from
Joel Van Groningen and a block by Van Groningen and Kuperus for a 25-23 win.
Set four was a battle up to a 21-21 tie but the Braves got two points and eventually held on to win 25-23. Dordt started fast in set five, scoring five of the first six and led 12-3 before winning set five 15-8 for Dordt's 10
th win of the season and fourth in league play.
Dordt will play Park on Saturday, March 8 in HAAC action in Parkville, Missouri.
COACH CHAD HANSON SAID
"What a fun and exciting match to get on the road. We competed hard and survived a grueling 5 set thriller. Many different guys stepped forward to provide sparks of energy for us in this match.
Lukas Van Groningen kept that fire lit with solid set distribution and defense.
Lance Vermeer and
Cory Kuperus were great at the net with timely kills and big blocks. This single head to head match against Ottawa was really important for our conference standing."
THE NUMBERS
Dordt | 68 kills | 3 aces | 11 blocks | 53 digs | .278 kill efficiency
Ottawa | 59 kills | 3 aces | 9 blocks | 44 digs | .233 kill efficiency
Dordt Leaders
Cade Schmidt | 20 kills
Andres Guzman | 20 kills | 2 aces
Joel Van Groningen | 15 kills | 12 digs | 4 blocks
Lukas Van Groningen | 51 assists | 14 digs
