Defiance vs Bluffton Box

DEFIANCE, Ohio – Defiance kicked off its 2007 Heartland Conference portion of the schedule on Tuesday night in style, dumping Bluffton 30-26, 11-30, 30-23, 31-29 inside the Weaner Community Center.

Things looked good early for the Beavers as Kayla Pickering lifted Bluffton to a 3-0 lead with her second kill of the evening. Bluffton extended the lead to 10-6 on a DC error, but the Jackets went on a 5-1 rally and tied the score at 11 behind a Danyel Lipps service ace.

Both sides traded points over the next several possessions, battling to a 19-19 draw before DC scored three-straight points on the serve of Julie Brunsman. The Jackets never trailed after that point, pulling out the 30-26 victory.

Bluffton came roaring back in the second set, blowing open a 4-4 tie with a 9-0 spurt to take control at 13-4. DC would never recover from the rally and the Beavers took the second set by a 30-11 margin.

The third game started with miscues on each side to tie the score at 1-1. Lipps then kept Bluffton on its heels with a tough serve, allowing Defiance to rattle off six-unanswered tallies to grab a 7-1 advantage. The lead never dipped under four points and swelled to as many as 10 points at 19-9, before the Jackets secured the 30-23 win and the 2-1 lead in the match.

Defiance seemed poised to put the Beavers away after a strong start to the fourth set, but Bluffton refused to give in. DC built an 11-6 lead on a kill from Lipps, but Bluffton scored six of the game’s next eight points to draw even at 13-13. The Jackets stopped the BU surge with a timeout and answered with a 6-2 rally of their own to temporarily grab control once again at 20-15. The Beavers would not go away easily however, and steadily chipped into the Defiance lead before knotting things up at 27-27.

Michele Rosen then gave Bluffton its first lead of the game at 28-27 on a kill, and a DC error put the visitors on the verge of forcing a fifth set, holding the 29-28 edge. The Jackets drew even on a Bluffton error and Lauren Aldridge gave DC the 30-29 lead with her 10th kill of the match. Defiance then recorded the game and match victory on the next play as Bluffton hit the ball out on the final swing of the night.

Neither side faired well offensively as Defiance mustered only 37 kills and a .048 hitting percentage, while Bluffton registered a .158 hitting percentage.

The Defiance defense proved to be the difference in the victory, as the Jackets scrambled for 82 digs and recorded 8.5 total blocks. The DC defense was at its best in the final two games, holding Bluffton to a .082 hitting mark over 110 swings.

Sara Porter led DC with 11 kills and also picked up 16 digs and a pair of aces. Lipps also recorded a double-double with 10 kills, 18 digs, five blocks and two aces and Aldridge totaled 10 kills and three blocks.

Kelsey Ferguson had another strong all-around effort, chipping in 24 assists, seven digs and four blocks and Heather Bradshaw led the Jackets with 21 digs.

Bluffton (6-7, 0-1 HCAC) got 20 kills from Rosen and 18 from Pickering to pace its offense, while Brittany Roth led all players with 34 digs.

Defiance (3-10, 1-0 HCAC) will face another conference foe on Saturday when it plays at Rose-Hulman at 11:00 am.