GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – Davenport gets the memorable five set victory over Ashland University on senior night. The Panthers dropped the first set after hitting .058 as a team and then came back to win the match in the fifth set. The Panthers dominated during sets three and five, hitting an outstanding .433 and .300 during those as a team. The Davenport players were fueled by their head coach Megan Lenhart, who was very passionate about giving her seniors a win in their last regular season home game.
 
THE BASICS
Final Score: Davenport 3, Ashland University 2
Location: Grand Rapids, Mich.
Records: Davenport 11-14 (7-7), Ashland 14-12 (7-8)


 
HOW IT HAPPENED
-SET SCORES: 20-25, 28-26, 25-13, 22-25, 15-10
-Ashland won the first set and took an early lead. The Eagles made a five point run to take a 14-11 lead during the middle of the set and then only gave up one multi point run to the Panthers for the remainder of the set.
-The second set needed extra points as the teams battled it out during a pivotal set. Davenport took an early 12-6 lead after scoring five straight points. The Eagles fought back and tied the set at 17 points a piece. Ashland had two different opportunities to close out the set, but Davenport prevailed and won three consecutive points at the end to win 28-26.
-Davenport had all the momentum during the third set. The Panthers jumped out to a 12-6 lead after a ball handling error by the Eagles. A six point run down the stretch gave DU a 22-11 lead. Davenport hit .433 as a team in the third set to take a 2-1 lead in sets.
-Ashland battled back and won the fourth set to force a fifth set.
-A great start to the final set gave DU a 6-2 lead. During that opening stretch Ashley VanderHorst had two service aces. Another big run gave the Panthers a 12-5 lead and put them in a great position to win the match. Davenport successfully held onto their lead down the stretch of the final set for the 15-10 set win.

COACHES CORNER
"It was so fun to see the team pull together and compete hard against Ashland" stated Coach Lenhart. "So many players made great contributions, but it was definitely a team effort. Senior day is always a little extra emotional and I couldn't be prouder of the four young ladies we honored tonight. All four of them, Carly Nichols, Emily Kutch, Morgan Torres and Dill, represent themselves and our program with such class on and off they court. They will be missed."
 
STAT LEADERS
Kills-Dill (25)
Aces-VanderHorst (4)
Blocks-Sydney Tracer (8)
Assists-Tracer (53)
Digs-Kasey Stehouwer (25)
 
UP NEXT
The Panthers will be on the road for their final two regular season games. They will travel to Wayne State on Friday and Grand Valley State on Saturday.

Story by: Devin Steiner
 
Picture credit: Tyler Triemstra