Box Score | Photo Gallery | Rodriguez Audio Interview

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – The Davenport volleyball team jumped out to a quick first set lead, struggled in the second, but recovered quickly to down visiting Siena Heights 3-1 in WHAC action on Wednesday night.  DU dominated the first 25-11 and claimed 25-20 and 25-23 wins in the third and fourth to win their fifth straight match and 12^th overall on the season to improve to 12-3, 2-0 WHAC.  The Panthers head to Dearborn on Friday for a 6:00pm matchup with the Wolves.

Kelse Moon led a trio of DU players with double-digit kills as the senior posted 11 on the night and she was followed by Emma Matthew and Nicole Chase who each finished with 10.  Matthew posted a .400 hitting percentage while Chase was at .429 for the 4-set win over the Saints. Blocking was also a key stat for the night as DU collected 16.0 total blocks highlighted by six assist blocks each from Moon, Chase and Hannah Stone while Chase also posted a pair of solos.

Set one was all Davenport as they pushed ahead 1-0 in the match with the 25-11 win but the Saints fought right back to tie it up at 1-1 with a late rally in the second to win 25-22. After a back and forth third set, DU used a 4-0 run to extend their lead to 16-11 before the Saints rallied to tie it at 20-20.  Three kills in the final five points from Kelse Moon and Nicole Chase ignited DU to five straight points to end the set.

Looking to close out the match, DU jumped out to a quick 4-1 lead but the battle would again turn into a back and forth affair as there were eight lead changes and eight ties in a set where the Panthers rallied from down three late (22-19) to capture the 4-set win.

Siena Heights' Lindsey Adams led all players with 22 kills and the Saints' Carly Tillotson posted 34 assists in the loss. Davenport will return to the court at 6:00pm on Friday at UM-Dearborn before hosting Concordia next Wednesday.

Post-Match Quotes – freshman Emma Matthew and freshman Sidney Rodriguez

Matthew on heading into UM-Dearborn on a 5-match winning streak – “I think we just need to continue to be aggressive and keep up the intensity as a team”

Rodriguez on defending home court – “The day before every home game we meet on the Panther at center court and we talk about defending our home court and it is always nice to go out and be aggressive to win at home”

Post-Match Notes
The 16.0 team blocks set a new school record for total blocks in a 4-set match…It marked the second straight match that DU has had three players over 10 kills…The Panthers improve to 10-2 all-time against the Saints and they have won 10 in a row in the series
 
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