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GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. - Davenport won their second consecutive home opener tonight as they downed visiting Indiana South Bend in straight sets 25-17, 25-13, 25-16.  The win ups the Panthers record to 4-3 with a trip to the St. Xavier/Trinity Christian tournament set for the weekend.  DU will face four opponents on Friday and Saturday.

Kassie Graves led the offensive attack with 10 kills and freshman Hannah Stone chipped in with eight while hitting at a .636 clip to push DU over the .500 mark at 4-3.  Graves finished with a double double as the junior was second on the team with 10 digs. Senior Courtney DePriest posted 13 to lead the team on defense.

The first set saw Davenport race out to a 5-0 lead and extend it to as many as nine at 15-6 on a kill from Graves to force the Titans into their first timeout.  A termination by Brittany Bott upped the score to 19-9 which was the largest of the set in route to the 25-17 win.

The Titans were the ones to strike first in the second set as they used two aces and a kill to lead 3-0.  The advantage would be short lived however as 10 of the next 14 points were scored by the host Panthers for a 10-7 lead. After exchanging rallies, DU took firm control with a 12-2 run that was finished off by a block from Kelse Moon and Hannah Stone.  DU would end up closing out the Titans 25-13.

The final set was more equal for the first 10 points, but the Panthers found their rhythm by scoring ten straight points to make the score 18-9 on a tip kill from freshman Amber Getty.  Errors down the stretch doomed any kind of a comeback for the Titans as Davenport closed out the match 25-16.

The DU offense improved as the match went on after hitting just .167 in the opening set.  The Panthers closed out by hitting .267 in set two and .270 in the final set. Freshman Lexie Spetoskey dished out a team high 20 assists and DU finished with 10 team blocks.

Post-Game Quotes

Head Coach Megan Garner

On: IUSB playing in their first year - “We scrimmaged them earlier this fall and knew they were a bit undersized other than one player but they were very consistent and they would dig a lot of balls”

On: Preparing for first home match - “To get more prepared this year we want spend even more time as a team before home matches as the girls love traveling together so it seems they are more comfortable doing that”

Post-Game Notes

The win is the second in a row for head coach Megan Garner in the team's home opener…Indiana South Bend is in their first year as a varsity program…The .636 hitting percentage from Hannah Stone was her career best

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