HAMMOND, Ind. – The Tiffin University volleyball team dropped a 3-0 decision to Davenport Friday morning at the Hammond Sportsplex. The Panthers claimed the match by scores of 25-21, 25-13 and 25-17 but the Dragons would respond in the evening as they would go five sets against Southwest Baptist. TU would defeat the Bearcats by set scores of 25-17, 25-19 but Southwest Baptist would take the next three (27-25, 25-17, 16-14) on the first day of the Midwest Region Crossover.
DAVENPORT 3, TIFFIN 0 (21-25, 13-25, 17-25)
Tiffin was led offensively by
Katelyn Owens, who totaled a team-high nine kills while hitting .353.
Parker Vackert added seven kills and
Symari Scott chipped in five kills.
Maggie Pavlansky directed the offense with 17 assists, while
Kat Akolzin added 10 assists. Defensively, libero
Morgan Morley paced the Dragons with nine, while Akolzin contributed six.
The Dragons battled throughout the opening set after falling behind 5-0 early. Tiffin responded with a 12-7 run and eventually tied the score at 16-16 following a service ace from Akolzin. The two teams traded points down the stretch before Davenport closed the frame on a 9-5 run to secure a 25-21 victory.
In the second set, Davenport used a decisive mid-set surge to pull away. Trailing 11-9, the Panthers rattled off 11 of the next 13 points to build a commanding 22-11 advantage on their way to a 25-13 win and a 2-0 lead in the match.
Tiffin showed fight in the third set, trimming a seven-point deficit to 17-15 after kills from Scott, Vackert and
Brianna Langenderfer. However, Davenport answered with an 8-2 run to close out the set 25-17 and complete the sweep.
Next up, Tiffin will take on Truman State at 12:30 p.m. (11:30 a.m. CT) at the Hammond Sportsplex on Saturday.
