Wayland Baptist Box Score | Grand View Box Score

BOURBANNAIS, Ill. - Davenport once again went 1-1 at the Olivet Nazarene Invite with a five-set win over Wayland Baptist (Texas) and a straight set loss to #RV Grand View University (Iowa). The results has Davenport with a 17-10 overall record heading back into league play on Wednesday at Lourdes (Ohio).

Kassie Graves set a new school record for Davenport for digs in a match with 43 as the Panthers started the day with an impressive five-set win over Wayland Baptist.  Davenport then battled another team receiving votes in the latest NAIA Top-25 poll Grand View, but fell 3-0.

Three players finished in double-digits for kills against WBU in the opener as DU posted a 25-23, 21-25, 25-23, 19-25, 15-12 win.  Graves led the attack with 20 kills and was joined by Brittany Bott with 17 and Nicole Chase with 13.  Lexie Spetoskey led the way with 28 assists while four other players joined Graves with double-digit digs.

The second match saw Davenport battle a tough Grand View team (26-5 on the year) but they fell 3-0 (29-27, 25-19. 25-21).  The Vikings wore down the Panthers late and were able to limit the DU attack with only Bott finishing above 10 kills.  Kassie Graves had 16 digs while Courtney DePriest chipped in with 13.  

The split leaves Davenport at 17-10 on the season with WHAC play set to resume on Wednesday when the Panthers hit the road for Ohio to take on Lourdes University.  Davenport defeated the Grey Wolves earlier this year in a tournament at St. Xavier (Ill.).

Post-Match Quotes - Jenn Brunink and Nicole Chase

Brunink - "I think that playing new teams this weekend definitely helped us grow as a team and it showed us what we're capable of when we work hard."

Chase - "We were able to battle through some tough times in play especially when we were down to Wayland in the second set.  We overcome a big deficit that propeled us forward and gave us confidence to win it in the fifith set."

Post-Match Notes

With one tournament remaining, Davenport is 8-2 on a neutral court...The 43 digs by Kassie Graves were the most in a match since Courtney DePriest had 42 in a 5-set match vs. Daemen in 2008...Graves and Bott were named to the All-Tournament Team for their efforts

Follow DU Athletics on Facebook | Twitter
Follow DU Volleyball on Facebook | Blog