The Bluffton University volleyball team topped Rose-Hulman in a five set marathon (25-23, 22-25, 15-25, 25-19, 19-17) on Saturday, Oct. 7. Bluffton is now 11-9 overall and 2-1 in the HCAC conference. Rose slipped to 13-9 and 3-1 following its first Heartland Conference setback.

Bluffton led 5-1 in the final set before a couple kills by Bailey MacInnis made it 5-3. The match was knotted at 8-8, 12-12, 13-13, 14-14, 15-15, and 17-17. It was 17-16 after Bower scored on a tip right behind the block. Becca Poppel answered with a kill for the final tie of the night. With a bad set by Becca Poppel, the Beavers went back on top. Erin Weisgarber (Bolivar/Tuscarawas Valley) found Bethany Martini (Pickerington/North) on the outside and she hit paydirt for a second straight 5-set conference victory on the road!

Sydney Mohler (Lima/Central Catholic) led the team with 24 digs and she added three aces. Bethany Martini tallied 18 digs while Abby Rohrbach (New Knoxville/New Knoxville) and Courtney Zimpfer (Jackson Center) had 12 and 13 digs, respectively.

Martini continued to set the bar higher, knocking down a career-best 28 kills to go along with her 18 digs for another double-double. Freshmen Sarah Heydinger (Tiro/Buckeye Central) and Remi Bower (Deshler/Patrick Henry) tallied 11 kills apiece to help the Bluffton offense in the five-set victory. Erin Weisgarber registered 41 assists, seven digs and three kills.

Bluffton returns for its first Heartland Conference home match in the Sommer Center on Wednesday, Oct. 11, when the Beavers welcome rival Defiance College. Come out and support your Beavers!

-BEAVERS-