Kayla Vandermolen finished with 28 assists and three digs on Tuesday
Box Score
DEARBORN, Mich. - For the first time in school history, the volleyball team has begun the conference slate with a victory as they defeated UM-Dearborn in straight sets tonight. The Lady Panthers cruised to the 25-20, 25-22, 25-13 win to improve to 9-5 on the year and 1-0 in the WHAC.
Davenport faced off against the Wolves for the second consecutive match tonight only this time it counted in the conference race and the Lady Panthers made quick work of their opponent on the road.
DU jumped out to a quick 4-0 lead in the opening set thanks to three errors from the home team. After UMD got within one a 5-4, Davenport used a 14-6 run to take a commanding 19-10 lead. The run was highlighted two kills each from
Kassie Graves (White Cloud, Mich.) and
Brittany Bott (Hudsonville, Mich.). DU closed out the set 25-20 and took the momentum with them to the second set.
After falling behind early in the second set, DU rallied to take a 6-5 lead but it would be the last until late in the second set as Dearborn controlled the play leading by as many as five at 15-10 and 17-12. The Lady Panthers rallied however behind the play of Graves and Bott once again as they used an 8-4 run to take a 22-21 lead. DU finished the Wolves off with three out of the last four points to take a two sets to none lead.
The last gasp efforts of the Wolves in the second set seemed to take the life out of the home team as Davenport rolled in the third set 25-13. DU trailed only twice early on and led by as many as 11 until the final margin of 12 points.
Kassie Graves (White Cloud, Mich.) led the balanced offense for DU as the sophomore finished with eight kills and freshman
Nicole Chase (Caledonia, Mich.) and sophomore
Kelse Moon chipped in with seven kills each.
Kayla Vandermolen (Cedar Springs, Mich.) (28 assists) and
Courtney DePriest (Grand Rapids, Mich.) (16 digs) were the other stat leader for the Lady Panthers.
Davenport will return to action on Thursday when they travel to Fort Wayne to take on #15 Indiana Tech. Match time is set for 7:00 PM.
