The Tiffin University volleyball team opened the 2023 season on the road at the Texas A&M University-Kingsville Invitational on Friday. The Dragons first matched up against Colorado State University-Pueblo in which they earned a thrilling 3-2 (25-23, 25-19, 17-25, 16-25, 15-11) victory before falling to Quincy University in the second match of the doubleheader, 3-1 (20-25, 25-16, 25-23, 25-21).
Tiffin vs. Colorado St.-Pueblo
It was an even start to the first set of the match as both teams traded scores back-and-forth. With Tiffin down 12-11, a kill by Wakaya Wilson kick-started a 6-1 run by the Dragons which earned them a four-point lead at 17-13. Later in the set, Tiffin led 23-20 before CSU-Pueblo scored three in a row to level the set. However, a service error followed by an attack error by the ThunderWolves clinched the set one victory for Tiffin.
CSU-Pueblo took a slight advantage early in the second set and later held a three-point lead at 17-14. A kill from Wilson on the next rally once again led to another big offensive spark for the Dragons. Tiffin rattled off nine consecutive points including two kills from Wilson and a massive three service aces by Addison Conti to give the Dragons a 2-0 set lead.
The ThunderWolves soon found their footing offensively, however, as they went on to win the next two sets, 25-17 and 25-16 respectively.
It all came down to the third and final set in which the Dragons jumped out to an early 3-0 lead thanks to back-to-back kills by Wilson followed by another from Kenedi Goon. As the set continued, CSU-Pueblo slowly chipped away at the deficit and eventually tied the match at 10-10 and 11-11. Tiffin sealed the victory following a 4-0 run which began with a kill by Reinhart and ended on a service ace from Diana Heitkamp.
Leading the way offensively was Wilson with a team-high 13 kills, adding seven digs as well. She was followed by Kaylee Freund with 10 kills and a hitting percentage of .318. Reinhart led the team in hitting percentage at .471 and tallied nine kills in the process. Conti recorded 32 assists in total for the match and led the way in service aces with five. Heitkamp totaled a team-high 17 digs and added four assists while Alivia Rew contributed five kills, four total blocks, and three aces.
Tiffin vs. Quincy
Quincy took an early lead in set number one but the Dragons quickly bounced back to even the set. Trailing 8-7, Tiffin went on a 6-2 run thanks to a balanced attack which earned it a three-point lead. The Dragons later trailed by one once again at 17-16 but a kill by Goon evened things up. An 8-3 run by Tiffin to end the set earned it the set one victory.
The second set was controlled firmly by the Hawks as they went on to win 25-16, leveling the match at 1-1. The Dragons trailed late in the third set but fought valiantly to pull back within one at 23-22 thanks to a kill by Reinhart. However, Quincy was able to close out the set to take the 2-1 advantage. The fourth and final set of the match saw the Hawks take an early lead which Tiffin fought to come back from but could only get within three before falling 25-21.
Goon led the Dragons with a total of 11 kills and a hitting percentage of .407, she added three total blocks on the defensive end as well. Reinhart followed closely behind with nine kills and three total blocks as well. Rew ended with six kills and led the team defensively with six total blocks while Heitkamp contributed a game-high 21 digs. Freund totaled five total blocks and added four kills as well.
The Dragons will be back in action tomorrow as the Texas A&M University-Kingsville Invitational continues. Tiffin will first face Ouachita Baptist University at 9:30 a.m. followed by New Mexico Highlands at 5:30 p.m.