October 29, 2016
By: Samantha Granger, sports information assistant
BLUFFTON, Ohio - Saturday’s Heartland Conference tussle brought Hanover College to the Sommer Center for a hard-fought duel between the top two teams in the HCAC. The Beavers came up short, taking their first loss in the conference (21-25, 25-15, 25-23, and 25-22). Bluffton fell to 21-8 overall and 8-1 in the Heartland Conference, while Hanover improved to 22-7 and 8-0 in the HCAC.
ERIN WEISGARBER (Bolivar/Tuscarawas Valley) handed out 43 assists for the home team. MACKENZIE MCFARLIN (Ashland) and BETHANY MARTINI (Pickerington/North) smacked 16 and 10 kills, respectively. LAUREN WEISGARBER (Bolivar/Tuscarawas Valley) also added to the offense with 14 throwdowns, hitting at a .462 clip for the match.
Lauren Weisgarber led the defense with one solo and three block assists. McFarlin fired two services aces for the Beavers, while libero SYDNEY MOHLER (Lima/Central Catholic) paced the back row with 26 digs. COURTNEY ZIMPFER (Jackson Center), BECCA TOURNEY (Columbia City, Ind.), and ABBY ROHRBACH (New Knoxville) added 14, 13, and 12 digs, respectively, for the Beavers.
Bluffton will travel to #1 seed Hanover for the semi-finals of the HCAC Tournament on Saturday, Nov. 5 (5 p.m.). The Beavers will meet the winner of Wednesday night's #6 at #3 matchup. Continue to check the Bluffton University schedule page for updates regarding opponents and start times.
-BEAVERS-
