Bluffton was pushed in each set, but the Beavers downed rival Defiance College 3-0 on Oct. 10. The visitors improved to 12-10 overall and a perfect 4-0 in the Heartland Conference, while Defiance fell to 3-16 and 1-4 in the HCAC.
After a 25-19 victory in the lidlifter, Bluffton dug a 12-4 hole in the second set before coming out of its shell. A 10-2 spurt that featured seven straight Abby Rohrbach (New Knoxville) serves evened the score at 14-14. Three straight serves from Courtney Zimpfer (Jackson Center) gave the Beavers the lead for good as Bluffton took the second set 25-23. The separation never exceeded three points in the clincher with Bluffton posting a second straight 25-23 victory.
Senior Bethany Martini (Pickerington/North) continued to impress, knocking down a match-high 18 kills on 40 swings. Fellow outside Jessica Lovell (Grove City) added a dozen counters for the victors, hitting .364 with just four errors. Senior Jessie Gibson (Warsaw/River View) added eight putaways with just one error for a .350 hitting percentage. Senior ringmaster Erin Weisgarber (Bolivar/Tuscarawas Valley) chipped in 11 kills to go along with her 35 assists and four digs.
Freshman libero Brooke Kleman (Ottawa/Ottawa-Glandorf) picked up a match-high 27 digs in just three sets. Senior defensive specialists Zimpfer and Casey Clark (Lima/Central Catholic) tallied and 10 and seven digs, respectively.
Bluffton is back in the Sommer Center for Homecoming on Sunday, Oct. 14, at 3 p.m. when Transylvania comes to town.
