Volleyball Opens Season in Florida

Doane Volleyball opened the 2022 season on Friday in Florida as they took on Cumberland (Tenn.) and Loyola (La.) in the Chick Fil-A Classic. The Tigers were unable to recover from a slow start in the opener as they fell 3-0 to the Phoenix before dropping their second match to the Wolf Pack, 3-1.

Cumberland, led by former Doane volleyball assistant Hannah Vadakin, had three matches under their belt before taking on the Tigers and jumped out to a 7-1 lead in the first set. Doane was even with the Phoenix the rest of the way in the opening set but fell, 25-19. With the second set tied at 9-all, Cumberland used a 6-0 run to take the lead and hold on for a 25-22 win. The final set saw the Phoenix take the final two points of the match for a 25-23 win.

Taylor Sluka (SO/Lincoln, Neb.) led the Tigers with nine kills and a .333 attack percentage. Ally Wallace (SR/Franktown, Colo.) added six kills as Doane finished with 31 in the match. Jaime Renshaw (SR/Sioux Falls, S.D.) hit the 20-20 club in the opening match, posting 23 assists and 20 digs. Doane managed seven ace serves with two apiece from Renshaw and Simonie Mendenhall (SR/Clancy, Mont.).

The first set with Loyola was a tough fought battle with the Wolf Pack taking a 29-27 decision. They had two set points that the Tigers fought off and then Loyola stopped one Doane set point to tie the set at 27-all. Back-to-back ace serves ended the opening set. Doane won set two, 25-22, despite falling behind 4-1 to open the set. Loyola won the final two sets, 25-19 and 25-19.

Sluka led the team for the second straight match with 14 kills and a .303 attack percentage. Kirsten Bures (SR/Odell, Neb.) added nine kills as Doane finished with 48 as a team. Renshaw picked up 37 assists and 15 digs in the match. The Tigers had five ace serves in the match, three from Harper Case (FR/Lincoln, Neb.). Cassidy Tompkin (SR/Clay Center, Neb.) had a hand in all three team blocks in the match.

Both matches were the first in program history between the schools. On Saturday, the Tigers will take on the host school, Keiser, in the first game. The two teams met for the first time last year when Doane won in straight sets in Tennessee. The closing match is against Georgetown, a team Doane is 0-2 against all-time, having last met in 2007.