The Dordt University volleyball team earned a pair of wins on the first day of the Bruins Classic held today at the Bellevue Fieldhouse in Nebraska. The Defenders defeated Benedictine-Mesa (Ariz.) in four sets in the afternoon match and followed with a 3-0 sweep against Grand View (Iowa) in the evening.
The Defenders, now 5-1 this season, will play two more matches on Saturday at the Classic; vs Xavier (La.) at 1pm and against eighth-ranked Bellevue in the final match of the day at 7pm.
vs Benedictine-Mesa: 3-1 win (18-25, 25-11, 25-19, 25-16)
Shayna Van Dyken put away a match-high 14 kills and
Haley Kuperus added 11 kills in leading the Defenders to a four-set win against Benedictine-Mesa.
The Defenders dropped the first set 25-18 as they were limited to 10 kills and a negative hitting efficiency (-.097) against the Red Hawks. Tied 2-2 early, Benedictine-Mesa went on a decisive 9-2 run to put the Defenders behind for good.
Dordt completely flipped the script in the final three sets, hitting well over .300 the rest of the way, including 50% in the second set.
Tied again at two in the second set, an ace serve by
Peyton Poppema followed by a kill and block from
Ellie Weg put the Defenders up for good. A couple of ace serves by
Kylie Beckering pushed the lead to 17-5 and the Dordt played sideout volleyball thereafter.
Set three was the most competitive and was not decided until late. With Dordt leading 18-17, Van Dyken put away three consecutive kills to force a Red Hawks timeout. Dordt continued the run with a kill from Weg and another ace by Poppema as Dordt closed the set with an 8-2 run.
Dordt led from start to finish in the fourth as
Haley Wielenga set the tone early with a couple of ace serves. The Defenders went ahead 21-10 after both Kuperus and Weg put down kills and then combined for a block.
By the Numbers:
- Dordt hit a season-best 27% for the match; Benedictine-Mesa 13%
- the Defenders recorded a season-high 15 aces, led by Poppema with a career-best six
- Chloe Huisman put up 31 assists, her second highest total of the season
- Carlee Jackson lofted up 19 assists and put down three kills
- Ada Dkkers hit 46% with seven kills in 11 attempts
- Benedictine-Mesa was led by Sophie Drollinger with seven kills
Dordt Notes:
- Kuperus - 3rd match this season with 10+ kills, 28th for her career
- Huisman - 2nd match this season with 30+ assists
- Huisman has had 10+ assists in every match this season
- Dekkers - 7 kills is a season-high
- Poppema- career-high 6 aces
- Wielenga - 1st match with 10+ digs this season
- Kylie Beckering - 5th match this season with 10+ digs, 39 for career
- Dordt improves to 2-0 vs Benedictine-Mesa all-time
vs (RV) Grand View: 3-0 win (25-16, 25-22, 25-20)
Laney Wolfswinkel put down 10 kills and
Haley Kuperus totaled nine kills to go with 2.5 blocks in leading Dordt to a 3-0 sweep over Grand View, a team that receive votes in the NAIA preseason poll.
The Defenders setting duo of
Chloe Huisman (19 assists) and
Carlee Jackson (15 assists) directed the offense to a 24% hitting efficiency, their second best of the season.
Kylie Beckering led the backrow play with digs.
An early 9-0 Defenders run led to a convincing 25-16 win in the first set. Dordt capitalized on 10 Grand View hitting errors and never trailed in the first set.
Down by four (14-10) in the second, the Defenders went on a 6-0 run to establish their first lead of the second set.
Ellie Weg,
Breanna Beckering and
Shayna Van Dyken combined for four of the points during the Defenders run. With Dordt leading 21-20, Wolfswinkel smashed down a pair of kills and Beckering added another as Dordt went up 2-0 in the match.
Strong serving by
Scarlett Winterfeld yielded a 5-0 Defenders lead early in set three. Grand View came roaring back, eventually taking the lead at 8-6 before Dordt came back to tie the set 9-9. The set was tied a total of nine times, the final at 18-18, when a pair of errors by Grand View put Dordt in front 20-18. Still leading by two (22-20),
Ada Dekkers put away back-to-back kills and a successful attack by Van Dyken on match point gave the Defenders the sweep.
By the Numbers:
- Dordt hit 24% for the match, its second best percentage of the season
- the Defenders totaled 14 assisted blocks, matching their highest of the season
- Dordt limited Grand View to .091 hitting percentage
- the Defenders middle hitters (Ellie Weg and Ada Dekkers) combined for 13 kills and just one error
Notes:
- Dordt improved to 23-3 all-time against Grand View
- Laney Wolfswinkel totaled double figures in kills for the third time this season, 17th for her career
- Weg's 67% hitting efficiency matches her season best
