By: Samantha Granger, sports information assistant

Elmhurst stats  I  Carthage stats

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. - Bluffton entered day two of the Midwest Invitational with a matchup against the #16 Blue Jays of Elmhurst. Bluffton went out to a solid start in set one, out-hitting the Blue Jays .268 to .182 on the way to a 25-23 victory.

Bluffton struggled to get things going in set two, falling 25-19. Set three was a nail-biting affair as the Beavers lost a close one, 28-26 after leading 22-20 and 25-24. Set four was a quick one as the Blue Jays could not handle Becca Tourney’s (Columbia City, Ind.) laser serve. Tourney led the Beavers to a 25-13 victory in set four. As the defining set was underway, the Beavers came out slowly and finished on the wrong end of a 15-10 decision.

Hitting at a .462 clip with seven kills was LAUREN WEISGARBER (Bolivar/Tuscarawas Valley). KENDRA PARMENTER (Grove City) and MACKENZIE MCFARLIN (Ashland) blistered the Blue Joys with 11 and 10 kills, respectively. JENNY BROWN (St. Marys/Memorial) added eight kills of her own.

Tourney ripped four aces from the service line. Freshman ERIN WEISGARBER (Bolivar/Tuscarawas Valley) handed out 38 assists and chipped in 10 digs. SYDNEY MOHLER (Lima/Central Catholic) finished with 12 digs, while Tourney added 10.

The final opponents for the Beavers (14-10) were the Lady Red from Carthage (#11). The Beavers pushed hard but after a long weekend they couldn’t come up with the win as Carthage capped the weekend with a three-setter (25-18, 25-23, and 25-15). Parmenter led the Beavers with 16 kills, while Brown, who was named to the All-Tournament Team, and McFarlin also added seven and five kills, respectively.

Weisgarber finished the match with 25 assists. Defensively for the Beavers, Mohler led again with 18 digs, and Tourney finished with two aces from the service line.

The Beavers will be back in action on Wednesday, Oct. 21, at Manchester University.

-BEAVERS-