All-HCAC release I McFarlin's MVP Video
BLUFFTON, Ohio - Following a regular season in which the Bluffton University volleyball team met all of the challenges presented to it, a bevy of Beavers have been named First Team All-Heartland Conference in voting by the head coaches prior to the HCAC tournament. For the second time in six seasons, Bluffton is home to the HCAC Most Valuable Player as sophomore MacKenzie McFarlin (Ashland) has been named the top player in the Heartland Conference. Shauna Rowland was the first Beaver to earn that distinction when the junior led Bluffton to a perfect 8-0 conference mark in 2009. Juniors Jenny Brown (St. Marys/Memorial), Sara Roth (Findlay/Van Buren) and Kendra Parmenter (Grove City) were also selected First Team after posting a 7-2 mark in conference play.
Bluffton University Head Coach Steve Yarnell, who has led the Beavers to the Heartland Conference tournament for seven consecutive seasons, was named the 2014 Heartland Conference Volleyball Coach of the Year following voting by the 10 HCAC head coaches. He has Bluffton in the NCAA Tournament for the third time in six years and the second season in a row. The Beavers are currently 23-11 as they prepare for a trip to St. Louis where they will meet #7 Washington University on Friday, Nov. 14. It marks the second time (2009) that Yarnell has been tabbed the HCAC Coach of the Year. Bluffton was won or shared two regular-season titles and three HCAC tournament titles in the past six years while playing in the HCAC championship game four times during that span.
In her second year as a starter on the outside, McFarlin jumped out quickly with 56 kills on the opening weekend as Bluffton went 4-0 against a star-studded field that included Heidelberg, Geneva, Denison and Albion. She was named MVP of the Sommer Center Spiketacular while also nailing down her first of two Heartland Conference Player of the Week awards for the season. Her 407 kills are tied for 10th on the all-time single-season list with Parmenter and it is the second-highest total in the HCAC for 2014. McFarlin fired a team-high 52 aces (1st in the HCAC), while her 3.34 kills per set were 4th in the conference and 8th all-time at Bluffton. Her .280 hitting percentage is 3rd in the HCAC and currently ranks 5th at Bluffton. McFarlin's career 0.41 aces per set is 7th on the all-time list for the Beavers. She proceeded to cap off the HCAC tourney by being named Most Valuable Player for her work at Defiance over the weekend. The standout sophomore also chipped in with 180 digs and 30 total blocks for the season.
Jenny Brown continued to show why she is now a three-time First Team All-Heartland Conference selection. One of the elite middle hitters in the Heartland Conference, Brown went over 300 kills (325) for the third straight season, the fifth-highest total in the conference with two of the top four also members of Bluffton's Regional-bound squad! Her .307 hitting percentage, 3rd best all-time at Bluffton, is the second-highest in the HCAC and tops for anyone with at least 500 total attacks. A career .256 hitter coming into the season, her career percentage jumped to .273 and it ranks 2nd all-time behind Courtney Zimmerman's .293 career hitting percentage. Brown is currently tied for 11th all-time with 291 career blocks and her 0.75 blocks per set this season is 10th in the HCAC. The crafty junior was named to the HCAC/OAC Crossover All-Tournament Team in September.
Sara Roth took the reins as Bluffton's primary setter on the first day of practice and never looked back. She took advantage of Bluffton's outstanding core of returning hitters, handing out assists at a record pace. Her 1,344 assists and 11.02 assists per set not only obliterated the competition in the Heartland Conference, they pushed her to the top of Bluffton's record books in both categories as well. She is ranked 7th nationally with those 11.02 assists per set. Her 1.665 career assists are 8th all-time while her 7.50 assists per set is currently 3rd on the all-time list. She helped her cause with 302 digs, 60 kills and 19 total blocks as the junior captain has been a huge part of Bluffton's back-to-back regional trips in her first two years as a Beaver.
Kendra Parmenter continued to impress on the outside, securing her second consecutive First Team All-Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference award. A starter from day one, Parmenter has improved significantly each year as evidenced by a higher hitting percentage and more kills each season. Her 407 kills equal McFarlin for the second most in the HCAC and 10th all time at Bluffton. Parmenter's 3.36 kills per set are tied for 5th on Bluffton's single season list and they are third in the Heartland this year. She has averaged 3.01 kills per set for her career (1st all-time) and her 1,097 kills (8th all-time) have her on pace to knock Casey May and her 1,327 career spikes off the perch she has held since 1998. Parmenter's work against Manchester and Rose-Hulman helped her earn HCAC Player of the Week honors, giving Bluffton three Players of the Week awards this season.
In conjunction with the All-HCAC selections, the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference also announced the All-HCAC Sportsmanship Team for the fall of 2014. Sophomore Lauren Weisgarber (Bolivar/Tuscarawas Valley) was selected to the All-Sportsmanship Team from Bluffton. This award has been developed as part of a conference-wide sportsmanship initiative. Members of the All-HCAC Sportsmanship team are selected by the coaches and their teammates as individuals who demonstrate the ideals of positive sportsmanship both on and off the field/court of competition.
For the second consecutive season and the third time in the past six years, Coach Yarnell and his Bluffton University volleyball team will play in the NCAA Regionals following their Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference tournament championship win at Defiance. The Beavers will travel over 400 miles for a date with #7 ranked and regional host Washington University in St. Louis, Mo. at 9 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 14.
This will be Bluffton's sixth appearance in the NCAA Tournament with three coming in the last six years. Bluffton went three times between 1994 and 1997 before Coach Yarnell made his first trip in 2009 when the Beavers (27-6 overall) traveled to Hope College for a first-round matchup with Ohio Northern after rolling through the HCAC with a perfect 8-0 mark. Bluffton followed that up with an improbable run to the tourney last year when they became the first #6 seed to make it through the HCAC tournament with a 3-0 mark that culminated with a four-set victory over another surprise finalist, #5 seeded Hanover College. Bluffton fell to #10 Wittenberg in the first round at Calvin College following their 2013 HCAC title.
Continue to check the Bluffton University Volleyball schedule page for tournament updates, scores and recaps at http://www.bluffton.edu/athletics/volleyball/2014/schedule.html.
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