Women’s volleyball team loses five-set match at Manchester in season-opener

N. MANCHESTER, Ind. – The Olivet College volleyball team kicked-off its 2021 season with a tough five-set loss to Manchester (Ind.) University this evening at the Stauffer-Wolfe Arena in North Manchester, Indiana. After losing the first set, the Comets bounced back to win the next two sets. The Spartans won the fourth set to force a deciding set, which they also won.

Final Score: Manchester defeated Olivet 25-20, 22-25, 14-25, 25-23, 15-11
Location: Stauffer-Wolfe Arena; North Manchester, Indiana
Records: Olivet 0-1 overall, Manchester 1-0 overall

• The Comets led the opening set 6-4 before Manchester used a 7-0 run to go up 11-6. Olivet closed the gap to a single point, 11-10, but it would not get any closer for the rest of the set.
• Late in the second set, Olivet trailed 19-16. A 5-1 Comet run put them up 21-20. The Spartans leveled the score at 21-21 before two Manchester errors made the score 23-21. A kill for sophomore Morgan Dillon got Olivet to set point. A Spartan kill was followed by a kill for sophomore Olivia DuFore to close out the set in the Comets' favor.
• The only time Olivet trailed in the third set was at 2-1. The Comets' largest lead in the set was 11 points twice, 23-12 and 25-14.
• The early stages of the fourth set saw neither team leading by more than two points. The Spartans then used 5-0 run to turn an 8-7 deficit into a 12-8 lead. Manchester's advantage increased to six points, 21-15. Olivet fought back to tie the score at 23-23. Two Spartan kills closed out the set.
• Following a 3-3 tie in fifth set, Manchester scored five consecutive points. The Comets were never able to recover from the deficit.

• Olivet posted a slightly higher attack percentage, .116 to .112, but the Spartans had four more kills 48 to 44. Manchester had two more aces (10 to 8) and three more total blocks (7 to 4).
• Dillon tallied a team-best 12 kills, followed by DuFore with 11.
• Junior Ellie Louiselle finished with nine kills.
• Junior Kennedy Blackburn dished out a match-best 39 set assists.
• Senior Drue Mullin was one of four players to reach double digits in digs, as she had 20.
• DuFore and junior Madison Chubb each had 11 digs, while Jill Arends had 10.

• Halle Planck slammed down a match-best 16 kills.
• Erika Kramer was next with eight kills.
• Jordan Holland collected 25 set assists.
• Rachael Ressler led the Spartans with 16 digs.

• The Comets travel to Jacksonville, Illinois, Friday to participate in the Illinois College Tournament. On Friday, Olivet faces Monmouth (Ill.) College at 5 p.m., followed by a match against Blackburn (Ill.) College. On Saturday, the Comets play Rose-Hulman (Ind.) Institute of Technology, followed by a match against the host Lady Blues.