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GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – Davenport set a new school record for wins in a season today as they posted a 1-1 record vs. Spring Arbor and St. Francis in the CU Classic hosted by Cornerstone. DU is now 19-14 on the season with two matches scheduled for Saturday at 9:00am and 1:00pm.
In the opening 3-1 loss vs. Spring Arbor, DU dug themselves an early hole while dropping the first set 25-21. The Lady Panthers rebounded to win convincingly in set two 25-18 but a late rally from the Cougars in the third led to a 25-13 blowout and they closed it out with a 25-20 win in the fourth.
Leading Davenport on offense was sophomore Kassie Graves and juniors Jennifer Brunink who each finished with 11 kills in the match. Senior Kayla Vandermolen dished out a match high 43 assists and junior Courtney DePriest posted 23 digs.
The second match saw Davenport take on University of Saint Francis (Ind.) for the second time this season. Earlier in the year, the Cougars posted a 3-1 win over the Lady Panthers at the Cardinal Stritch tournament.
After the Lady Panthers took the opening set 25-20, the Cougars rebounded and took sets two and three by identical 25-19 scores. The two losses saw DU hit for just .056 and .147. With their backs against the wall, the Lady Panthers came out swinging in the fourth and had to hang on to big lead late for a 25-23 win.
The fifth set started out on the wrong side for DU as they lost the first two points but behind the serving of Heather Deal, the Lady Panthers ran off eight straight points for a commanding 8-2 lead. The two teams traded points for the remainder of the set with DU winning 15-8.
Three players found double-digits in kills for Davenport led by junior Ashley Penny's 14. Sophomores Kassie Graves and Brittany Bott chipped in 11 and 10 respectively. Graves finished with a double-double as she posted 12 digs as well.
The win over St. Francis gives DU their 19th win which sets a new school record for wins in a season. The previous mark was 18 set in 2009. Davenport will look to add to their win total on Saturday as they continue their play against schools from the MCC with matches against Bethel (Ind.) at 9:00am and Goshen (Ind.) at 1:00pm.
