The Braves enter Saturday's match against Dordt University coming off a 3-1 loss to no. 7 Georgetown College and a 3-0 loss to no. 8 Park University last Saturday in Parkville, Mo.
In the loss to no. 7 Georgetown, Ottawa finished the four set match with 37 kills, a .205 attacking percentage, 34 assists, five service aces, 29 digs, and six team blocks.
Akeil Williams Had 15 kills and a .464 attacking percentage.
Grant Younie was the other Brave with double digit kills, finishing with 10.
Andrew Salinas had 20 assists and two service aces.
Kevin Davidson led OU with 11 digs.
Kayden Kirby finished with 10 assists and three blocks.
In Ottawa's loss to no. 8 Park, OU finished the match with 21 kills, a .109 attacking percentage, 21 assists, three service aces, 26 digs, and three team blocks.
Macort Pickup led OU with six kills.
Andrew Salinas has 13 assists and two service aces.
Kevin Davidson led OU with nine digs.
Akeil Williams leads Ottawa in kills (2.5) per set, and blocks (1.1) per set.
Andrew Salinas is the team's leader in assists per set (4.1), and
Kevin Davidson is OU's leader in service aces (0.2) per set and digs (2.3) per set.
Saturday's match is the 17th meeting between Ottawa University and Dordt University. OU leads the series, 12-4 and is on a two match winning streak against the Defenders. The first meeting between the two teams happened on Feb. 13, 2016 in Sioux Center, Iowa. The Defenders won the match 3-2.
Ottawa won both meetings last year, taking a 3-1 win over Dordt on March 3, 2022 in Wilson Field House. Ottawa defeated DU 3-2, in a reverse sweep, in the GPAC Tournament Semifinals on March 30, 2022 in Sioux Center, Iowa.
In seven matches this season, Ottawa is averaging 8.1 kills per set, 7.5 assists per set, 1.9 blocks per set, 1.3 service aces per set, and 9.1 digs per set. The Braves have a .118 attacking percentage.
Ottawa is ranked 38th in attacking errors (134) in the NAIA, 39th in total attacks (636), 46th in assists (195), 39th in service aces (35), 41st in service errors (86), 36th in service errors per set (1.3), 34th in receptions (500), sixth in reception errors (64), 34th in digs (237), 28th in digs per set (9.1), 32nd in solo blocks (15), 30th in block assists (69), 33rd in total blocks (50), 24th in blocks per set (1.9), and 45th in points (293.5).
Dordt University is 7-1 overall, 3-1 in the GPAC, is 3-0 at home this season, and is receiving votes in the latest NAIA Men's Volleyball Coaches Top 15 Poll. The Defenders have won five straight matches and enter Saturday's match coming off a 3-0 victory over Morningside University on Feb. 16 at home.
Caleb Kulesza leads Dordt in kills (3.8) and service aces (0.5) per set, Lukas Van Groningen is the team's leader in assists (9.3) per set, Robert Piekarz leads DU in digs (4.1) per set, and Luke Nelson is the team's leader in blocks (0.9) per set.
Through eight matches, Dordt is averaging 12.1 kills per set, 10.2 assists per set, 2.2 blocks per set, 1.9 service aces per set, and 10.3 digs per set. They have a .239 attacking percentage.
Dordt is ranked 25th in the NAIA in kills (33), 11th in kills per set (12.1), 35th in errors (149), 29th in total attacks (794), 23rd in attacking percentage (.239), 30th in assists (287), 28th in assists per set (10.2), 19th in service aces (54), 29th in service errors (107), 12th in service aces per set (1.9), 40th in receptions (423), 25th in digs (290), 11th in digs per set (10.3), 27th in solo blocks (16), 13th in block assists (96), 17th in total blocks (64), sixth in blocks per set (2.2), and 25th in points (457).
