DEFIANCE, Ohio -- The Earlham College volleyball team won a straight-set match over Defiance College on Wednesday evening. The win put the Quakers in a good position looking ahead to postseason competition in the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference. 

The Quakers improved to 16-5 (5-1 HCAC) and are now in a 3-way tie for the top spot in the conference standings. The Yellow Jackets fell to 4-13 (1-5 HCAC). 

Maria Young and Giselle Mora led the offense with 14 and 11 kills respectively. Young, the reigning HCAC offensive player of the week, attacked at a .448 clip with only one attack error and scored one serving ace. 

Reigning HCAC defensive player of the week, Caroline Mulvihill collected 14 digs from the back line and scored seven kills on offense. Earlham libero Mallory Cox also collected 14 digs and has one ace. 

Erin Wagner tallied 40 assists as the dedicated setter for the Quakers. 

The first set was the most competitive as the Yellow Jackets stayed close on the scoreboard. Everytime Earlham started to pull away Defiance would reel the score back in with a scoring run. With the score tied at 18, Earlham put together a string of five kills and seven points to take the set. 

The second yet was the shortest one as Earlham applied pressure early and put the Yellow Jackets in a large hole. An 11-1 run early on in the set deflated the home team and gave Earlham all the momentum. A 6-0 and a 6-2 run in favor of the Quakers followed as the set continued on. 

After falling behind 4-1 in set three, the Quakers made a 9-0 surge to lead in the final frame. Earlham kept the pressure on with a 4-0 and a 5-0 run later on in the set where the Quakers attacked at a .405 percentage as a team. 

Earlham is not in a 3-way tie with Transylvania and Mount St. Joseph for the top spot in the HCAC volleyball standings with three games remaining. Earlham beat both of those teams head-to-head during conference play. With Transy and Mount St. Joseph squaring off next week, the Quakers have put themselves in a good position in the HCAC standings going forward. 

The Quakers will take on Franklin College on the road on Saturday before closing their regular season with two home matches next week.