October 31, 2008
BLUFFTON, Ohio - The Bluffton University volleyball team fell behind 15-4 in the first set, but the Beavers rallied for the sweep (25-21, 25-18, 25-22) at Wilmington College on Friday, October 31, 2008. Bluffton is now on a four-match jag and the Beavers have been victorious against six of their last seven opponents. With the win Bluffton improved to 17-9, the most victories since the Beavers finished 2000 with a mark of 19-16. Wilmington fell to 15-15 with their Senior Night setback.
The Halloween night contest marked KAYLA PICKERING'S(Jamestown/Greenview) return to the starting lineup for the first time since the season-opening Marietta Tournament when she went down with an ankle injury. Playing in front of her hometown fans, the Jamestown native electrified the crowd with 12 digs and a superb .417 hitting percentage against her former Greenview High School coach, Jan Tobe, who has turned the Wilmington program around in the two years since she moved to the collegiate level.
The Beavers dug a 15-4 hole in the lidlifter thanks to four Wilmington service aces and a number of blocks by the home team. Following Coach Yarnell's second and final timeout, Bluffton responded with 21 of the next 27 points, including the final six of the set for a 25-21 victory.
Bluffton took control of the second set early and coasted to a 25-18 win before completing the sweep with a tight 25-22 victory in the clincher.
JENNA ESHLEMAN (Landisville, Penn./Hempfield) was outstanding at the net, driving home a career-high 18 kills on 38 attacks for a .342 hitting percentage. She narrowly missed her ninth double-double, picking up nine digs and firing two service aces. Fellow freshman CHRISTIANA SINDELAR (Napoleon) also reached double-digits with 10 kills on just one error for a .346 hitting percentage. Junior MICHELE ROSEN (Harrison) came off the bench and pounded six spikes for a .278 percentage.
Finding her teammates for 40 assists while also picking up nine digs, sophomore SHAWNA ROWLAND (Bucyrus/Wynford) just missed out on her 21st career double-double. Junior libero BRITTANY ROTH (Findlay) paced Bluffton with 14 digs and three service aces. ALLISON STREICHER (Continental) added eight digs and four kills for the victors, while Pickering slammed home five kills in the final set.
The visitors pounded 49 kills, compared to just 27 for Wilmington, while hitting .232 as a team for the night. The Beavers rifled nine service aces and recorded 60 digs, 11 more than the Quakers.
Bluffton jumps right back into action on Saturday, Nov. 1, when the Beavers make the short trip up Interstate 75 for a tri-match at Findlay against the Oilers and Lake Erie College. The match with The Storm is slated to start at 3 PM.