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JAMESTOWN — Despite the lopsided margin in sets, the scores of those sets tell the bigger story in the GPAC Quarterfinals matchup between the No.2-ranked University of Jamestown and No.22-ranked Dordt University on Saturday, Nov. 5, at Harold Newman Arena. The Jimmies swept the Defenders (25-21, 25-19, 25-20) and held the Defenders to a hitting percentage of .023.
The first set was very back and forth as the Defenders took an early 9-5 lead before the Jimmies (29-2) fought back to take a 10-9 lead. After the teams traded the lead, the Jimmies’ Darienne Johnson got a kill that landed right in front of the Defenders’ Sophie Johnson to push her team in front 15-14. That kickstarted a big run that saw the Jimmies stretch the lead out to 19-15, drawing a Defenders timeout. After the timeout, the Defenders (13-12) responded with a huge run to cut the deficit to 20-19. The Jimmies would not be denied though putting the set away at 25-21.
The Defenders sprinted out to a 10-5 lead in the second set before the Jimmies went on a 7-3 run to tie the set up at 13. The teams traded the next few points before the Jimmies were able to go on a big run to win the set at 25-19.
“I think honestly, we do a lot of stuff in practice, where we’re making sure that if we are starting to feel down or you can tell somebody’s feeling down that we really pour into each other and pick each other up,” Jimmies junior Logan Sherman said. “I think that’s why we’re successful in those moments.”
The third set appeared to be all Jimmies as they sprinted out to a 12-3 lead, drawing a Defenders timeout.
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“I just said, ‘you guys, they’re not just going to roll over now. They’re looking at the end of their season right here and so they’re going to put in another push. So we have to keep strong.’ They certainly did,” Jimmies head coach Jon Hegerle said.
However, the Defenders came out of the stoppage with a run to cut the deficit to 14-8. After the Jimmies stretched the lead back out to 17-11, the Defenders again fought back to cut the deficit to 22-17 but the Jimmies just proved to be too much, getting the 25-20 third-set win.
“We just talk about controlling the next play and you never want to be in a situation where you’re down seven to zero and you just can’t get something going,” Defenders head coach Jacki Smith said. “But the mentality of our team is always next play and I think that just continued throughout and we just controlled what we could control offensively and once we got to the service line we were able to get some things going.”
Since joining the GPAC ahead of the 2018-19 season, the Jimmies are now 4-1 in GPAC quarterfinals and are on a four-match winning streak in such games.
The Jimmies are back in action at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 9, when they take on Dakota Wesleyan University.
DU 0, UJ 3
DU: 21 19 20–0
UJ: 25 25 25–3
Kills leaders:
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DU: Ellie Voss 6, Brenna Krommendyk 5, Grace Langemeier 4, Avey Amelse 4, Alli Timmermanns 4
UJ: Kalli Hegerle 10, Anna Holen 9, Aleah Zieske 8
Assists leaders:
DU: Megan Raszler 17, Campbell Marshall 3, Madison Vis 1
UJ: Paige Oswald 24, Kalli Hegerle 17, Ellie Holen 1
Aces leaders:
DU: Vis 2, Sophie Johnson 2, Makenna Kooima 1, Amelse 1
UJ: Megan Moser 2, Hegerle 1, E. Holen 1
