By: Brittany Roth, sports information assistant
BLUFFTON, Ohio - The Bluffton University volleyball team came out ready to fight in their last home conference match on Saturday, Oct. 25. After the recognition of two seniors, opposite hitter ASHLEY LITWILLER from Hopedale, Ill., and student coach CARLY UNRUH, another HCAC battle began.
During the first two sets, there were 21 tie scores and nine lead changes as the Beavers and Engineers battled for points. Bluffton came out on top of set one (25-23) and set two (25-22), putting all the pressure on the Engineers. A couple early runs in set three gave Rose an early lead and Bluffton could not dig out of the hole as RHIT inched closer with a 25-19 victory. In set four, the Beavers showed they had something to prove and never looked back, dominating the Engineers 25-13 to clinch the match and better their chances of hosting a Heartland Conference tournament match on Wednesday, Nov. 5.
All of Bluffton’s hitters had stellar numbers as the team finished with a .287 hitting percentage for the match. Senior Ashley Litwiller had a career high of 13 kills on 25 attempts for a .400 hitting percentage. Junior KENDRA PARMENTER (Grove City) led everybody with 20 kills, MACKENZIE MCFARLIN (Ashland) had 13, JENNY BROWN (St. Marys/Memorial) added 10 and LAUREN WIESGARBER (Bolivar/Tuscarawas Valley) put away six for the Beavers.
SARA ROTH (Findlay/Van Buren) racked up 53 assists to keep the offense moving in the right direction. The defense was led at the net by Brown and Litwiller who were in on three and four blocks, respectively. Libero SYNDEY MOHLER (Lima/Central Catholic) piled up 17 digs. Weisgarber, Roth and BECCA TOURNEY (Columbia City) chipped in on defense as well with nine, eight and seven digs, respectively.
The Beavers will go to Defiance to face their rivals in the final regular season conference match on Wednesday, Oct. 29. The contest is slated for 7 p.m.
-BEAVERS-
