October 25, 2009
By: Erin Neal, sports information assistant
LEXINGTON, Kentucky -The Bluffton University women's volleyball team increased their winning streak to 10 straight matches, taking town Transylvania University and Asbury College on Saturday, October 24, 2009. The Beavers defeated the Pioneers of Transylvania 3-0 (25-18, 25-20, 25-12) and the Asbury Eagles 3-1 (25-16, 25-20, 23-25, 25-14). With the victories, Bluffton improved to 20-5 overall while remaining flawless at 5-0 in the HCAC.
Leading the offensive front line for the Beavers was junior opposite ALLISON STREICHER (Continental) as she put down eight kills. She was followed by sophomore outsides NICOLE WOOD(Tiffin/Hopewell-Loudon) and JENNA ESHLEMAN (Landisville, Penn./Hempfield), each with seven kills apiece. Sophomore middle hitter HEATHER RODMAN (Mansfield/Mansfield Christian) rounded out the attack with five kills of her own. Junior SHAUNA ROWLAND (Bucyrus/Wynford) also tallied up 29 assists in the win.
The Beavers also gave a stellar defensive effort, led by Eshleman. She tallied up 11 digs, followed by Streicher with 10, senior libero BRITTANY ROTH (Findlay) with nine digs, and Rowland with eight. The Beavers continued to be a defensive force at the net as COURTNEY ZIMMERMAN (Leesburg/Fairfield) marked up seven block assists, and Streicher and Wood finished with four and three block assists, respectively. Junior KAYLA PICKERING(Jamestown/Greenview) and Roth each had two aces in the winning effort.
Against Asbury, Eshleman led the Beaver attack with 15 kills. Streicher also had another great offensive output as she put down 11 kills, while Wood contributed 10. Rowland directed the offensive with her 45 assists.
Roth led the backline with a solid 19 digs, followed closely by Streicher with 14. Pickering and Eshleman both tallied 13, and Rowland added 10. With her 19 digs, Roth took over first place as the all-time digs leader for Bluffton University. She now has a total of 1,981 career digs, which surpassed Casey May (1995-98), who tallied up 1,976 during her tenure at Bluffton.
Bluffton has a busy upcoming week looming on the horizon. The Beavers travel to Adrian College on Tuesday evening to take on the Bulldogs. The final junior varsity match of the season is slated for a 5:30 p.m. start, with the varsity to follow at 7:30 p.m. They will then head to Terre Haute, Indiana, to compete in a tri-match with conference foe Rose-Hulman and non-league opponent Illinois College on Saturday, October 31. The following day, the Beavers travel to Defiance College to compete against HCAC foe Franklin College.
-BEAVERS-