DC vs. John Carroll Box / DC vs. Wilmington Box

DEFIANCE, Ohio – Danyel Lipps and Sara Porter each recorded a pair of double-doubles on Friday evening as Defiance split its first two matches of the 2007 Defiance College Invitational. DC lost a grueling five-set affair to John Carroll to begin the day, before bouncing back to score a 3-1 win over Wilmington.

The Yellow Jackets fell by a 30-24 score in the opening set, before rallying for a 33-31 victory in the second set against JCU. DC rode the back of Lipps to the win as the sophomore hitter tattered the Blue Streak for seven kills without committing a miscue. Lipps then put the game away with a pair of service aces for Defiance’s final two points of the set.

Lipps stayed hot in the third set, totaling seven more kills in 15 swings, as the Jackets pulled out a 30-28 win for a 2-1 lead in the match.

Defiance grabbed a quick 1-0 lead in the fourth set, but would not lead again until an Ashton Judis ace lifted the Jackets to a 22-21 advantage. That would be the last lead of the set for DC as John Carroll went on a 5-1 streak to grab a 26-23 edge and went on to gain the 30-27 victory to force a decisive fifth set.

JCU carried the momentum of the late game-four rally into the final set and pulled out the hard-fought win by a 15-8 margin.

Lipps blistered the Blue Streak for 27 kills in the loss, while Lauren Aldridge tacked on 16 kills and three blocks and Porter went for 15 kills and 24 digs. Heather Bradshaw matched Porter with 24 digs and Brittany Cooley and Judis teamed for 50 assists.

Meredith McDiarmid was outstanding for JCU, collecting 62 assists to go with eight kills and 10 digs. MaryEileen Dalton and Kate Schafer fueled the offense with 37 kills between them.

In the second match, a fresh Wilmington squad rallied from a 22-16 deficit to score a 32-30 win in the opening set. The Quakers rattled off eight-straight points behind four aces from Olivia Sword to flip the 22-16 hole into a 24-22 advantage. The Jackets rallied back to claim leads of 27-26 and 30-29, but Wilmington knotted the scoring at 30-30 on a Katie Rousch kill and took the win behind consecutive slams from Carmen Mersch.

That would turn out to be the most competitive set of the match, as the Yellow Jackets hit their stride midway through the second set and coasted to the match win behind scores of 30-19, 30-19 and 30-21 in games two through four.

Porter led the charge with 22 kills and 15 digs, while Lipps posted a sparkling hitting percentage of .375 en route to 17 kills. Lipps also added 20 digs and six service aces to lead DC in both statistics. Aldridge tacked on 14 kills, Cooley had 32 assists and Julie Brunsman posted a match-high five blocks.

Defiance (2-3) will play in Pool B on Saturday, along with Shawnee State and Marietta. The Jackets will play Shawnee State at 9:00 am before taking on Marietta at 1:00 pm.

Bluffton, Huntington and John Carroll all went unbeaten in pool play on Friday night and will play in Pool A on Saturday morning to determine the DC Invitational champion.

Pool C will pit Concordia, Waynesburg and Wilmington against each other as all three teams dropped both of their matches on Friday.