September 24, 2011
By: Meghan Mohr, sports information assistant

ADA, Ohio - The Beavers of Bluffton University took the OAC/HCAC Challenge tournament championship spot this weekend with two more wins over Baldwin-Wallace and Ohio Northern University. Senior JENNA ESHLEMAN (Landisville, Penn./Hempfield) was voted team MVP for her outstanding performance on the weekend. The Beavers are now 10-7 this season.

The Beavers had a rough start Saturday morning with Baldwin-Wallace winning two of the first three sets before Bluffton took over (17-25, 25-22, 16-25, 25-18, 15-11). The Beaver offense was led by sophomore KYLEIGH WHITSEL (Sheffield/Brookside) putting up 41 assists. Her hitters leading the pack were seniors Jenna Eshleman with 17 kills and NICOLE WOOD (Tiffin/Hopewell-Loudon) with 15 kills. Senior COURTNEY ZIMMERMAN (Leesburg/Fairfield) was close behind with eight kills on the match. 

HEATHER SCHIERER (Crescent Springs, Ky./St. Henry), LINDSAY KROHN (Marysville, Ind./New Washington) and Zimmerman rifled two aces each on the match.  Defensively speaking, Schierer tallied 23 digs while Eshleman added 20 to the dig count as the Beavers met up with 2011 graduate Allison Streicher, now an assistant coach at Baldwin-Wallace. 

The second match of the day against the Polar Bears of ONU was a fresh start for the Beavers as they crushed the hosts in three sets (25-23, 25-20, 25-21). Leading the team to the tournament victory was Eshleman with 15 kills, two aces, eight digs and two block assists. Schierer contributed with 14 digs and two aces while senior Courtney Zimmerman pounded eight kills and stuffed ONU with three block assists.

Senior Nicole Wood added seven kills and two block assists. Sophomore BETHANY BEHNFELDT (Napoleon) and junior BROOKE DISTEL (Carey) also chipped in with five kills apiece. Whitsel handed out 34 assists for the Beavers while picking up eight digs. Lindsay Krohn added seven digs and one ace in the victory. 

Next, the Beavers take on HCAC rival Manchester College at North Manchester, Ind. this Wednesday, Sept. 28. The contest is slated to start at 7 p.m.

-BEAVERS-