Sept. 7, 2008
DELAWARE, Ohio - The Bluffton University volleyball team moved to 6-3 on the season with a split at the Bishop Invitational on September 5-6, 2008. The Beavers opened with a five-set loss to Otterbein College before rebounding to win their first two matches against Oberlin and host Ohio Wesleyan on Saturday morning. Conference foe Transylvania knocked off Bluffton in three sets Saturday afternoon to take second place in the tournament behind Defiance.
OTTERBEIN 3, BLUFFTON 2 - Final
The Beavers saw their three-match winning streak come to a halt at the hands of Otterbein College on Friday, Sept. 5, 2008. After dropping the first set by just two points, Bluffton rallied to take the next two sets, 25-22 and 25-23. Just when the Beavers thought they had the momentum, Otterbein squeaked out a 25-22 victory and followed that with the 15-12 clincher after being down 8-6 midway through set five.
Junior MICHELE ROSEN (Harrison/Harrison) and freshman JENNA ESHLEMAN (Landisville, Penn./Hempfield) led the Bluffton attack with 13 and 10 kills, respectively. Rosen added two block assists at the net. Junior libero BRITTANY ROTH (Findlay/Findlay) picked up a team-high 39 digs, while sophomore SHAUNA ROWLAND(Bucyrus/Wynford) and Eshleman chipped in 18 and 16 digs. Freshman CHRISTIANA SINDELAR (Napoleon/Napoleon) finished with seven kills and three digs. Rowland found her teammates for 36 assists in the loss to the Cardinals.
BLUFFTON 3, OBERLIN 0 - Final
BLUFFTON 3, OHIO WESLEYAN 0 - Final
TRANSYLVANIA 3, BLUFFTON 0 - Final
In Saturday's lidlifter, Jenna Eshleman pounded 11 kills with only three errors for a .320 hitting percentage. Sindelar also contributed to the Bluffton offense with seven kills and a .312 hitting percentage. Rowland, who was named to the All-Tournament Team, led the Beavers with 17 assists and freshman Morgan Hicks (Convoy/Crestview) finished with nine. Roth picked up 16 digs and Eshleman added seven digs.
Bluffton followed the Oberlin victory with a three-set win over the host Bishops on Saturday. Sophomore ALLISON STREICHER(Continental/Continental) dominated Ohio Wesleyan at the net, hitting .667 with 12 kills and no errors in 18 attempts. Eshleman also had a fin match, slamming 12 kills and hitting .375 for the match. She and CRYSTAL AUGSBURGER (Bowling Green/Bowling Green) both finished with two solo blocks with Augsburger also adding a block assist. Rowland set up the Beavers with 34 assists and Roth paced the back row with 14 digs. Eshleman rifled three service aces in the win. The Beavers hit .297 against Ohio Wesleyan.
Transylvania had Bluffton's number in the final match of the day, taking down the Beavers in three sets. Sindelar had seven kills to lead Bluffton while Streicher hit .294 with six kills. Defensively, Roth and Eshleman picked up 19 and 11 digs. Rowland tallied 22 assists, giving her 109 for the tournament. Augsburger, Streicher and Sindelar all chipped in with three block assists against the Pioneers.
The Beavers return to action on Wednesday, Sept. 10, when they host Oberlin College in a Dig for the Cure match with donations going to fund cancer research. The contest is slated to start at 7 p.m. in Founders Hall.