Posted: Sep 07, 2010
September 7, 2010
By: Erin Oberly, sports information assistant
CRESTVIEW HILLS, Ky. - The Bluffton University women's volleyball team hit the road Tuesday evening to take on the Saints of Thomas More College. The Beavers pulled out a victory in the five-set match, 13-25, 25-16, 16-25, 25-21, 15-13. Bluffton rallied from a 10-4 deficit in the clincher, scoring 11 of the final 14 points. With the key non-conference win, the Beavers moved to 6-0 while the Saints slipped to 2-3 on the season following five-set losses to nationally-ranked ONU and Heidelberg last weekend.
Leading the way for the Beaver offense was COURTNEY ZIMMERMAN (Leesburg/Fairfield), who slammed down 11 kills without an error. Outsides hitters NICOLE WOOD (Tiffin/Hopewell-Loudon) and JENNA ESHLEMAN (Landisville, Penn./Hempfield) put down eight kills each, while HEATHER RODMAN(Mansfield/Christian) and ALLISON STREICHER (Continental) chipped in seven kills apiece. SHAUNA ROWLAND(Bucyrus/Wynford) dished out 40 assists as she paced the front line.
Despite a slow start, the Beavers depended upon their tenacious defense to pull out the victory. Libero HEATHER SCHIERER(Crescent Springs, Ky./St. Henry) led the team defensively with 21 digs, while Eshleman followed with 18 digs. Streicher and MANDI LEEMASTER (Fremont/Old Fort) contributed 14 and 12 digs, respectively.
Next, the Beavers travel to Kenyon College to compete in a tournament where they will face Denison, Ursuline, Kenyon and Otterbein. Their first match of the weekend will be Friday at 4 p.m. against Denison.
-BEAVERS-