Volleyball Splits Pair of Matches on Day One of DC Invitational

DEFIANCE, Ohio - A trio of Lady Yellow Jackets reached double-figure kills and Ashton Judis piled up 39 assists as Defiance bounced back from a 3-0 loss against Huntington University to score a 30-19, 30-28, 30-27 sweep over Daemen in the nightcap.

Danielle Rego blistered the Daemen defense for 15 kills in just 29 attempts for a hitting percentage of .345. Danyel Lipps posted a double-double with 11 kills, 12 digs and five aces and Lauren Aldridge added 12 kills.

The Jackets breezed to a 30-19 victory in the opening set behind six Rego kills and 11 Judis helpers.

Lipps took over in the second game, registering six kills, including the game-winning kill after Daemen had cut a 29-25 DC lead down to 29-28.

It was all Defiance in the third and final game as the Jackets ran out to a 4-0 advantage and never looked back en route to a 30-27 win.

The Jackets got off to a sluggish start in the opening match against the Huntington Lady Foresters, connecting on just seven of 36 swings while committing 13 errors in the first set. Huntington countered with a blistering attack percentage of .360 to coast to the 30-13 victory.

Defiance bounced back with solid efforts in the second and third games, but could not get over the hump as the Foresters held them off for 30-25 and 33-31 victories en route to completing the 3-0 sweep.

Rego led DC with 13 kills in 28 chances and Judis tossed up a match-high 28 assists. Libero Diane Bruns tacked on 13 digs to go with a trio of service aces.

On the day, Huntington and Shawnee State posted perfect 2-0 marks while DC and Findlay split their two matches. Concordia and Daemen each suffered a pair of losses.

DC (2-5) will be back in action on Saturday morning for day two of the seventh annual Defiance College Invitational. The Jackets will take on Shawnee State at 11:00 am before closing out the tournament against Concordia at 1:00 pm.