Sept. 10, 2008
BLUFFTON, Ohio - The Bluffton University volleyball team hosted Oberlin in the Beavers' first Dig for the Cure match on Wednesday, Sept. 10, 2008. With a raucous Founders Hall crowd supporting the cause in a sea of pink, Bluffton swept Oberlin in three straight sets (25-16, 25-16, 25-14) to improve to 7-3 on the season.
Bluffton jumped out to a comfortable lead in the first set when freshman MORGAN HICKS (Convoy/Crestview) served nine consecutive points, including a pair of service aces. The Yeowomen never recovered as sophomore SHAUNA ROWLAND(Bucyrus/Wynford) served consecutive aces late in the set. The Beavers took care of Oberlin by a final count of 25-16 in the opener.
In set two Oberlin stayed with Bluffton early on, but the Beavers took advantage of freshman JENNA ESHLEMAN'S (Landisville, Penn./Hempfield) serving to open up a 10-point spread over the visitors. A CHRISTIANA SINDELAR (Napoleon/Napoleon) spike followed by a MEGHAN DODSON (Tiffin/Calvert) ace late in the set sealed Bluffton's second straight 25-16 victory.
Following an intermission in which fans served to win Dig for the Cure shirts, Oberlin upped its intensity and rallied to keep pace with the home team in the third set until Hicks found her stride at the service line once again. She rifled three service aces and served eight consecutive points to effectively put the match on ice. Bluffton finished the sweep with a 25-14 victory in the clincher.
Every available player on Coach Yarnell's squad saw action in the victory. Eshleman led the Beavers with nine kills for a .333 hitting percentage. Sophomore ALLISON STREICHER(Continental/Continental) and Christiana Sindelar both pounded five spikes. Streicher had no errors and finished with a .625 hitting percentage while Sindelar tallied three block assists at the net.
Shauna Rowland found her teammates for 16 assists and BRITTANY ROTH (Findlay/Findlay) picked up a team-high seven digs in two sets. Morgan Hicks smoked five aces to lead the home team.
The Beavers hit .250 for the match with 31 kills and just 11 hitting errors. At the service line, Bluffton racked up 11 aces while only making three service aces. Bluffton picked up 26 digs in the match and, along with Oberlin, raised over $2,400 for cancer research.
Dig for the Cure began in the fall of 2003 when Lisa Martson, the head coach at the University of Charlotte, (whose mother is a breast cancer survivor) sought to combine her volleyball program's community service project with a company that helped her mother and others like her to survive - the Susan G. Komen Foundation. Coach Martson established the Dig for the Cure with just her program. In the following years schools in her conference also participated in the program. Consequently, word got out and the effort has grown from her sole Division I program in 2003 to more than 90 programs across the country in all divisions and high schools.
Bluffton returns to action on Friday, Sept. 12, when the Beavers travel to face Indiana Tech in Bluffton's first match at the Defiance College Invitational. The contest is slated to start at 1 p.m.