The Bluffton University women's volleyball team turned out a down-to-the-wire victory at conference rival Defiance College on Wednesday, Oct. 27.

Despite dropping the third set, the Beavers were able to pull out the win 25-15, 25-18, 25-27, 26-24. With the win, Bluffton moved to 20-6 overall and 6-2 in conference play, while Defiance fell to 12-17 overall and 3-6 in the HCAC.

For the third consecutive season, the Beavers have now garnered a 20-plus win season, and the victory also handed Head Coach Steve Yarnell his 100th win at Bluffton University.

Leading the way for the Beavers was senior Shauna Rowland (Bucyrus/Wynford) as she directed the offense with 42 assists. She connected with junior Courtney Zimmerman (Leesburg/Fairfield) who slammed down 14 kills as well as Heather Schierer (Crescent Springs, Ky./St. Henry) who put down 11 kills.

Rounding out the Beaver attack was junior Nicole Wood (Tiffin/Hopewell-Loudon) with eight kills and senior Allison Streicher (Continental) who had seven kills. Freshman Hailey Phillips (Malinta/Patrick Henry) dished out four service aces for the Beavers.

Bluffton's defense once again played a key part in Wednesday night's victory as it was led by senior Mandi Leemaster (Fremont/Old Fort) who scooped up 20 digs, followed by Rowland with 18 digs. Schierer and Streicher tallied nine digs apiece. The Beavers were led at the net by senior Heather Rodman (Mansfield/Mansfield-Christian) as she put down five blocks, followed by Zimmerman with four stuffs.

Bluffton hits the road when it travels to DePauw University on Friday evening at 7 p.m. They then move on to compete in their final conference match-up against Franklin College Saturday at 1 p.m.

The two weekend matches are the final regular season meetings for the Beavers who will play host to Rose-Hulman next Tuesday, Nov. 2 in the first round of the HCAC post-season tournament.