The Grand Rapids Downtown Classic continued on Saturday for Tiffin volleyball as it matched up against Clarion in the morning, resulting in a 3-1 (25-23, 22-25, 25-18, 25-19) defeat before earning a five-set victory over Davenport in match number two on the day.

Tiffin vs. Clarion

A fiercely competitive first set saw runs from either side. A 5-0 run by the Dragons in the middle of the set earned them a three-point lead at 16-13. Tiffin held a 23-21 advantage but allowed a 4-0 run by Clarion to end the set.

The second set was more of the same as the two sides battled it out with neither one pulling out ahead. Tied at 21, a ball-handling error followed by an ace from Olivia Karhoff gifted the Dragons the lead. Back-to-back kills from Alivia Rew and Addison Conti earned Tiffin the victory and evened the match at one apiece.

The Dragons held a 9-7 lead in the third set but gave up a big 9-0 run which Tiffin was unable to recover from over the remainder of the set.

Wakaya Wilson led the team in kills with 11 followed by Josie Reinhart with eight and Rew with seven. Wilson recorded her first double-double of the season after adding 10 digs and five total blocks on the defensive side. Karhoff led the way with 19 digs and Conti finished with a team-high 26 assists.

Tiffin vs. Davenport

The Dragons got off to a great start in match two, winning the first set after leading from start to finish. The same could not be said, however, for the second set as Tiffin fell behind 13-3. Slowly the Dragons chipped away at the lead and even tied the set at 22, but a 3-0 run by the Panthers leveled the match.

Tiffin trailed by one early in the third set but three kills in a row by Wilson earned the Dragons the lead. They carried that momentum throughout the set and sealed a 25-15 victory to regain the overall lead at 2-1. Davenport did not go down easily as the Panthers narrowly pulled off a win in the fourth set to force set number five.

Down 11-10 in the final set of the match, back-to-back kills by Kaylee Freund sparked a 5-1 run which earned the Dragons victory and improved their record to 5-3 overall on the year.

Wilson once again led the team in kills with a season-high 15. She earned another double-double after also leading the team with 19 digs. Five Dragons in total tallied double-digit digs including Karhoff (19), Reinhart (17), Conti (16) and Marissa Sharpe (13). Reinhart posted her first double-double on the year as well after recording 11 kills, tied for the second-most on the team with Kenedi Goon.

Freund finished with a team-high nine total blocks followed by Goon and Reinhart each with four. Another season-high was tallied by Conti after racking up 35 assists for the match.

Non-conference play comes to a close for the Dragons, but the road trip continues as the team will now travel to Trevecca Nazarene for their conference-opener on Saturday, September 16th at 2 p.m.