Oct. 30, 2008

Box Score

Grand Rapids, Mich. - The Panthers have hosted five matches this year and three have gone to the fifth set. Fortunately for the Panthers, they have come out on top in two of them including tonight's 3-2 win over Siena Heights.

After a 5-set survival of Concordia on Tuesday, the Panthers entered tonight's match with Siena Heights looking to sweep the Saints on the year. DU took a 1-0 lead after set one with a final score of 25-19 in which the Panthers posted 14 kills compared to only 8 for the Saints. Siena rallied in two and three to take a 2-1 lead as the Panthers struggled on offense hitting just .042 in those two losses of 25-21 and 25-23.

DU fought back strong in the fourth set behind the play of Kailey Schultz as the freshman came in to post 4 kills, and 3 blocks to help DU tie the match at two sets a piece. After trailing 6-4 early in the final set, the Panthers rattled off four straight points behind a kill each from Joyce Larioza and Heather Deal, a service ace from Liz Holden and a mistake from the Saints. After the side switch, DU would increase its lead to 12-8 on two more kills from Larioza and Schultz and Davenport would finish off the 2-set rally with a kill from Megan Vanderhyde to take the fifth set 15-11.

The offense was carried by Megan Vanderhyde who posted 17 kills and Heather Deal who posted 14. Schultz ended the match with 9 kills and Kayla Vandermolen dishd out 49 assists in the win. Courtney DePriest was solid on defense once again as she led a quartet of Panthers in double-digit digs with a match high 21. Also posting more than 10 digs were Heather Deal (18), Taylor Nauta (13) and Kayla Vandermolen (12).

The win lifts DU to 14-24 on the year and 5-7 in WHAC play. They will host Cornerstone University on Tuesday, November 4 at 5:00 PM in a critical WHAC matchup.