By: Brittany Roth, sports information assistant
August 30, 2013

BLUFFTON, Ohio – There was excitement in the air as teams began arriving in Bluffton for the Sommer Center Spiketacular around noon. Bluffton's opening tournament brought in five other competitive teams: Alma College, Bethany College, Case Western Reserve, Hope College, and Marietta College. The teams were greeted at the door with some Shirley's popcorn and they were able to walk around the new facility relaxing a little before getting into game-mode.

Bluffton opened up their season with a 3-0 loss against Bethany. The Beavers were led on the front lines by Jenny Brown (St. Marys/Memorial) and Kendra Parmenter (Grove City) who had 10 kills each.  Brooke Ruffer (Stryker) had 19 assists followed by Sara Roth (Findlay/Van Buren) with 14. Hailey Phillips (Malinta/Patrick Henry) led Bluffton defensively with 16 digs.

The Beavers had a little down-time before playing Hope College. Again, Bluffton took a 3-0 loss but they were able to string some solid rallies together throughout the match. This time, leading the Beavers with eight kills was MacKenzie McFarlin (Ashland). Ruffer had 14 assists and McFarlin and Phillips led the defense with seven digs apiece.

On other courts, Alma College defeated Marietta and Hope defeated Bethany in three sets. Case ended up defeating Alma in five, and Case defeated Marietta in four. Tournament play resumes tomorrow at 10 am in the Sommer Center.

-BEAVERS-