Dordt University earned its first Great Plains Athletic Conference women's volleyball win of the season with a 3-0 sweep of Briar Cliff on Saturday evening at the Newman Flanagan Center.
Box Score (PDF)
The Defenders won by set scores of 25-20, 25-21 and 25-13 to improve to 10-4 overall and 1-1 in GPAC play. Briar Cliff falls to 10-4 overall and 1-2 in the conference.
Dordt fell behind 2-0 to start the opening set before responding with four straight points to take a 4-2 lead.
Haley Kuperus started the run with a kill from
Chloe Huisman,
Tavyn Sichmiller followed with a kill and Briar Cliff committed an attack error and a bad set. The Chargers answered with three of the next four points to pull within 5-4, but Dordt regained momentum with an
Ellie Weg kill and an attack error by Briar Cliff to make it 8-5.
Briar Cliff scored three straight to tie the set at 8-8 before Dordt answered with three consecutive points. Weg recorded another kill, Huisman served an ace and Briar Cliff committed an attack error. The teams traded points from there, with Dordt holding a 13-12 lead before Briar Cliff tied the set at 14-14.
Dordt then put together a 5-1 run to take control and the Chargers answered with three straight points to cut the lead to 21-18, but Kuperus stopped the run with a kill. Briar Cliff scored twice more to make it 23-20, but a service error gave Dordt set point and Kuperus finished the opening set with another kill for a 25-20 win.
The second set was tightly contested, with the teams tied five times. After Briar Cliff took a 1-0 lead, Kuperus answered with a kill to tie the set. Dordt then moved ahead 2-1 on a service ace from
Scarlett Winterfeld. The Chargers tied the set at 2-2, but Dordt scored two straight on another Kuperus kill and a Briar Cliff attack error to take a 4-2 lead.
Briar Cliff tied the set at 4-4 before Dordt scored three straight. A
Chloe Huisman kill, a Briar Cliff attack error and a
Carlee Jackson service ace put the Defenders ahead 7-4. The Chargers responded with a 4-0 run to take a 9-8 lead, with Dordt committing two attack errors while Briar Cliff added a service ace and another point on a Dordt error.
Dordt regained the lead with three straight points. An Emma Brenelli attack error, a kill by Van Dyken and another Briar Cliff error put the Defenders ahead 11-9. Dordt extended the lead to 13-10, but Briar Cliff again rallied, scoring three straight to make it 13-12.
Van Dyken's kill and a Briar Cliff attack error gave Dordt a 15-12 lead, but the Chargers answered with four consecutive points to take their second lead of the set at 16-15. Dordt responded immediately as Sichmiller's kill tied the set at 16-16 and a Briar Cliff service error put the Defenders ahead 17-16.
Briar Cliff tied the set again at 18-18 and 20-20, but Dordt continued to answer. An attack error by Alexis Even gave Dordt a 19-18 lead before the Chargers tied it again. Weg then put Dordt ahead 20-19 with a kill.
The Defenders closed the set with a 5-1 run after the final tie. Wielenga put Dordt ahead 21-20, Kuperus followed with three kills during the final four points and Sichmiller ended the set with a kill for the 25-21 win.
Dordt took control early in the third set and never allowed Briar Cliff to recover. The Defenders opened with a 3-1 lead after a block by Dekkers, a Kuperus kill and a Huisman kill. Briar Cliff tied the set at 3-3, but Dordt responded with three straight points.
Dekkers put away a kill, Briar Cliff committed an attack error and Weg added a kill to make it 6-3. The Chargers scored once, but Dordt answered with three straight to move ahead 9-4. Briar Cliff cut the deficit to 10-6, but Dordt scored three of the next four points to build a 13-7 advantage.
After Briar Cliff pulled within 13-7, Dordt scored three straight to make it 16-7. The Chargers scored four of the next five points to cut the margin to 17-11, but the Defenders then delivered their decisive run.
Dordt scored five straight points to turn a 17-11 lead into a 22-11 advantage. The run included an
Ellie Weg kill, an attack error by Aliyah Basham, another Weg kill, an attack error by Kenzie Rubida and a
Shayna Van Dyken kill. Briar Cliff scored twice, but Dordt closed the match with three straight points. Kuperus had consecutive kills to finish the sweep, 25-13.
Kuperus led Dordt with 14 kills on 26 attacks and hit .500. Weg added eight kills without an error on 10 attacks for an .800 hitting percentage. Sichmiller had six kills and Van Dyken added five.
Huisman directed the offense with 21 assists, while Jackson added 10 assists. Wielenga led the Defenders with 12 digs, followed by Doef with nine, Jackson with eight and Winterfeld with seven.
Dordt finished with 39 kills against 16 errors on 107 attacks for a .215 hitting percentage. The Defenders improved their hitting percentage in each set, going from .088 in the first set to .175 in the second and .394 in the third. Briar Cliff finished with 22 kills and a .041 hitting percentage.
BY THE NUMBERS
- Kills: Dordt 39, Briar Cliff 22
- Kill Efficiency: Dordt .215, Briar Cliff .041
- Digs: Dordt 50, Briar Cliff 41
- Blocks: Dordt 7, Briar Cliff 10
- Aces: Dordt 4, Briar Cliff 3
Dordt Leaders
