GREENWOOD, IN – The Bluffton University volleyball team has been selected as the preseason favorite to win the 2010 Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference championship. In a poll of the ten HCAC head coaches, the Beavers received a maximum total of 100 points and all ten first place votes.
The College of Mount St. Joseph placed second in the poll with 89 points, while Hanover College is picked to finish third in the conference standings this fall with 73 points. Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology (63 points), Defiance College (60), Anderson University (49), Transylvania University (47), Manchester College (30), Franklin College (25), and first-year member Earlham College (14) round out the poll.
The Beavers are coming off a 27-6 season and 8-0 conference record in 2009, claiming their first conference championship. Bluffton won the HCAC Tournament and fell in the first round of the NCAA Tournament to Ohio Northern, ending their season.
With a solid class of incoming freshman and six returning starters from 2009, coach Yarnell's Beavers look to be a formidable opponent in a highly competitive HCAC. BU returns three All-HCAC selections, including the conference's Most Valuable Player Shauna Rowland (Bucyrus, Ohio/Wynford). Juniors Jenna Eshleman (Landisville, Penn./Hempfield) and Nicole Wood (Tiffin, Ohio/Hopewell-Loudon) also return after earning postseason recognition.
Rowland saw action in 32 matches last year, recording a league-high 1,224 assists while chipping in 370 digs and 47 blocks. Eshleman added a team-high 384 kills and 358 digs, while Wood contributed 309 kills and 51 blocks for the Beavers.
Mount St. Joseph finished second in the HCAC last season with a 7-1 conference mark and a 24-10 record overall. The Lions will look to contend for their eleventh conference volleyball championship this season behind seniors Jamie Grauvogel (Cleves, Ohio/Harrison) and Lyndsey Waldman (Batavia, Ohio/Clermont Northeastern). The duo earned First-Team All-HCAC honors last season after leading the Lions to the HCAC Championship match. Grauvogel led the HCAC in kills (549) and service aces (45), while finishing second in hitting percentage (.300). Waldman finished second in the conference in assists, tallying 1,010 on the season.
Hanover finished third last fall with a 6-2 conference record and posted an overall record of 14-17. The Panthers return 2009 First-Team All-HCAC members Kirsten Brandvik (Indianapolis, Ind./Lawrence North) and Rachel Kloentrup (Morning View, Ky./Simon Kenton) to the squad. Brandvik blasted 263 kills and added 399 digs in 31 matches as a sophomore. Kloentrup led the team with 561 digs and added 227 kills.
Courtesy of HCAC Sports Information