September 14, 2012
By: Meghan Mohr, sports information assistant

ROCHESTER, NY - To open the weekend, Bluffton took on the host school, Rochester Institute of Technology, falling in four sets on Friday, Sept. 14, 2012.

The quick offense and tough serves of RIT left the Beavers struggling to put up a strong attack. Freshman Brooke Ruffer (Stryker) led the Beavers with 14 kills. Freshman Mackenzie Lauber (Mansfield/Madison) set up the offense with 17 assists while junior Kyleigh Whitsel (Sheffield Lake/Brookside) added seven assists.

Jenny Brown (St. Marys/Memorial) put up a big block with two solos and four block assists. Senior Heather Schierer (Crescent Springs, Ky./St. Henry) picked up nine digs, followed by junior Hailey Phillips (Malinta/Patrick Henry) with six digs and Lindsay Krohn (Marysville, Ind./New Washington) with five, respectively.

Following the RIT contest, the Beavers went straight into their second match of the night against Rochester. Bluffton struggled in the first two sets, dropping them 25-23, 25-19 before coming back in the third set to win 25-19. However, Rochester recovered in the fourth set 25-20, sending Bluffton to its fourth straight defeat. 

Freshman Kendra Parmenter (Grove City) had a stellar performance with 16 hammers, followed by Brown with nine kills of her own. Directing the offense was Lauber with 29 assists. Brown had another stellar defensive performance with four block assists and three solo blocks. 

Junior Bethany Behnfeldt (Napoleon) also put up good numbers blocking with two solo blocks and three block assists. Schierer and Phillips collected 10 shovels apiece followed by Ruffer with nine digs and Krohn with eight. 

On Saturday, Bluffton takes on SUNY-Potsdam at 10 a.m. and NYU at 12 p.m. to finish off the RIT tournament.

-BEAVERS-