By: Samantha Granger, sports information assistant
HANOVER, Ind. - The HCAC/OAC Crossover took its turn in Collier Arena with eight schools on the campus of Hanover College on Friday, Sept. 23, 2016. The first opponent Bluffton faced to open the tournament was Muskingum. The Muskies came out strong in the lidlifter but the Beavers were able to turn up the heat and won in three sets (25-23, 25-18, 25-21).
Sophomore Bethany Martini (Pickerington/North) led all hitters with nine kills for a .304 hitting percentage. Senior Lauren Weisgarber (Bolivar/Tuscarawas Valley) followed with eight spikes against the Muskies.
Sophomore Erin Weisgarber (Bolivar/Tuscarawas Valley) dished out 27 assists and tallied nine digs in the victory over Muskingum. Junior libero Sydney Mohler (Lima/Central Catholic) led the defense by picking up 10 digs for the victors.
After a well-deserved break, the Beavers were back on the court across the net from the Baldwin Wallace Yellow Jackets. Bluffton was unable to make a dent in Baldwin Wallace's armor, falling in three straight sets. Set one was a back and forth affair before the Jackets (16-1) pulled away for the 25-18 victory. The Beavers didn’t have an answer for B-W, dropping the next two sets by identical 25-19 scores.
Leading the Beavers was Lauren Weisgarber with 10 kills and .233 hitting percentage. Bethany Martini and MacKenzie McFarlin (Ashland) added eight and seven kills in the loss. Erin Weisgarber paced the offense with 26 assists while Sydney Mohler finished the match with 15 digs.
The Beavers moved to 10-6 and they will return to play on Saturday, Sept. 24 at 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. when they face Capital and Ohio Northern, respectively.
-BEAVERS-
