BELLEVUE, Neb.  – After a pair of battles against the No. 7 and No. 5 ranked teams in the country that saw Davenport fall 3-1 in both, the No. 24 ranked Panthers posted their first win of 2014 with a convincing 3-1 victory over No. 16 MidAmerica Nazarene. Davenport will conclude play at the Labor Day Classic hosted by Bellevue University on Saturday at 10 a.m. EST against No. 13 Dordt College (Neb.).

The first victory of the year has now come against two ranked opponents in each of the last two seasons as Davenport posted a 4-set win over No. 16 MidAmerica Nazarene (Kan.) on Friday evening. DU dropped the opening set 25-22 but then rattled off the next three, 25-20, 25-21, 25-14 to pick up their first win of the season.

After going point for point in the opener against the Pioneers, it was MNU that put together some late points to pull out the 25-22 win. DU then responded with a 25-20 win in the second which marked the third straight match the Panthers had split the opening two sets with their opponents.

Looking to win the third set for the first time in those matches, DU fell behind in the middle portion but then rattled off six straight points for a 20-14 lead in which they would go on to win 25-21. The fourth set was all DU as they raced out fast to a big lead and never let up ultimately winning 25-14.

Freshman Krissy Dill led a potent Davenport attack (.319 team hitting percentage) with 17 kills while Marcey DeHaan (16), Hannah Stone (11) and Molly Lameyer (10) each finished in double-digits. Amber Getty posted a season high 52 assists while Dill finished as the tops in digs with 14 for her first double-double of the season.

Davenport returns to the court on Saturday in Bellevue where they will meet their fourth straight ranked foe in No. 13 Dordt College (Neb.). Opening serve is set for 10 a.m. EST.

Post-Match Notes
The victory is only the sixth in school history over a team ranked inside the NAIA Top-25 after DU posted five last season…The meeting was the first ever against MidAmerica Nazarene…The 16 kills for Marcey DeHaan is only 1 off a career high for the junior as she posted the 17 against UNOH on October 2, 2013
 
Volleyball Contact: Aaron Sagraves | 616-554-5045 | asagraves@davenport.edu
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