BLUFFTON, Ohio - The Bluffton University volleyball team showed grit on a rare Sunday afternoon Heartland Conference matchup as HCAC-heavyweight Transylvania improved to 6-0-2 in the conference thanks to its slim 3-1 victory on a beautiful October 27. Bluffton slipped to 4-9-3 overall and 1-6-1 in the HCAC following the Senior Day setback. Transy improved to 7-4-3 on the season.

Transy went up 1-0 just over five minutes into the match when Isabella White hooked up McKenna Johnson for the early lead. The Pioneers pushed their spread to 3-0 at the break thanks to pair of Transy goals just seconds apart with seven minutes to play in the opening stanza.

A Katelyn Burden (Sidney) free kick set up fellow senior Alyssa Kester (Centerville) for her second score of the season, making it 3-1 and giving Bluffton life just over seven minutes into the second half. The Beavers finished with 16 shots on the afternoon, but they were unable to get any closer as the Pioneers wrapped up their 3-1 victory in the next-to-last regular season match.

Transy was called for two more fouls (12-10) and it also forced two more corner kicks (7-5) The Pioneers finished with only seven more shots (23-16) as the Beavers showed much improvement after falling 9-1 at Lexington in 2023.

Rilynn Kaufmann (Goshen, Ind.) led the home team with three shot attempts, while fellow senior Brielle Collier (Anna) turned in a 10-save performance.

Bluffton will cap off its 2024 campaign with a 3:30 kickoff on Wednesday, Oct. 30, when Earlham travels to the Sears Complex.

-BEAVERS-