Sept. 3, 2008
BLUFFTON, Ohio - The Bluffton University volleyball team continued to impress, posting a 3-1 victory over visiting Ursuline College in the Beavers' home opener on Wednesday, Sept. 3, 2008. The Beavers improved to 4-1 on the season while all Bluffton teams have combined to put together a 7-1 mark since competition started last weekend. The Arrows fell to 2-3 with the four-set loss to the Beavers.
Bluffton used the strong serving of freshmen Jenna Eshleman (Landisville, Penn./Hempfield) and Morgan Hicks (Convoy/Crestview) to open up a 10-5 lead over the Arrows in game one. Ursuline kept itself within striking distance until Shauna Rowland (Bucyrus/Wynford) found Michele Rosen (Harrison/Harrison) for back-to-back kills which made the score 22-14 in favor of the home team. Following a Rowland kill, sophomore Crystal Augsburger (Bowling Green/Bowling Green) finished the match with a spike from Christiana Sindelar (Napoleon/Napoleon).
To open the second set, Shauna Rowland served four straight points to give the Beavers a 4-0 cushion. A Rowland ace followed by an Allison Streicher (Continental/Continental) kill made the score 14-9 before Jamie Fox took over at the service line for the visitors and scored five straight points to give Ursuline the 16-15 advantage. Game two went back and forth before Ursuline pulled out the 26-24 decision.
The Beavers and Arrows kept pace with each other early in the third set, trading the lead until Rowland went to work at the line and rallied the Beavers for three straight service points which made the score 13-9 Bluffton. Following a Rosen smash, Michele found a hole in the Arrows defense with an ace to help Bluffton open up a 20-14 lead. Rowland served the final three points for a 25-18 Bluffton victory in the third set.
Bluffton again jumped out to a quick 3-0 lead with Rowland on serve to open the fourth set. Morgan Hicks and Michele Rosen both notched consecutive aces midway through the set to propel the Beavers to a 13-6 lead. After Bluffton made it 17-8, Ursuline used three Lauren Ferguson serves to cut the deficit to five points. Eshleman scorched a pair of aces and Brittany Roth (Findlay/Findlay) finished the Arrows off with three straight serves, including the set clincher in which Rosen pounded a kill.
Rosen led the Bluffton attack with 13 kills and only three errors for a .333 hitting percentage. Eshleman picked up her second double-double, 12 kills to go along with 10 digs. Sindelar smoked nine kills for a .208 hitting percentage.
Rowland set up her teammates with 42 assists and she tallied 18 digs for her second double-double of the season and 11th of her career. Roth paced the Bluffton defense with 20 digs while Hicks added 13. Rosen smoked a team-high four aces and Eshleman added three aces.
The Beavers racked up 57 kills compared to just 27 for the Arrows. Bluffton also made its mark at the service line, rifling 11 service aces.
Bluffton returns to action on Friday, Sept. 5, when it travels to Ohio Wesleyan for the Bishop Invitational. The Beavers open against Otterbein College at 4 p.m. on Court 2.
-BEAVERS-