By: Brittany Roth, sports information assistant
Sept. 11, 2013

BLUFFTON, Ohio - The Sommer Center was filled with fans this evening who were able to witness an exciting five-set battle that pitted Bluffton and Thomas More College. Though the Beavers fell in five, the teams were evenly matched as the final set went 16-14 in favor of the visitors.

The first set consisted of 17 ties and eight lead changes before Thomas More pulled out the slim 25-23 victory. In the second set, the Beavers allowed Thomas More to get an early run, but Lauren Weisgarber (Bolivar/Tuscarawas Valley) was able to make a run of her own from the service line to tie the set at five. From there, Thomas More continued to have the upper hand until Weisgarber made another run which knotted the game at 13. A couple points later Bluffton was able to finish off Thomas More 25-15 with the help of 10 straight serves from Sara Roth (Findlay/Van Buren).

In the third set, the Beavers started off quickly and were able to hold on at the end for a 25-21 win. Bluffton opened the fourth set strong with a four-point run from MacKenzie McFarlin (Ashland) but in the middle of the set Thomas More worked their way ahead and the Beavers remained a point or two behind the rest of the way. Set four went to Thomas More by a 25-22 count.

The Saints were able to earn the first point of set five and Bluffton was always just one or two counters behind until the home team knotted the match at 14. Thomas More recovered with the final two points for the 16-14 win and match victory.

Bluffton had four players reach double digits in kills: Jenny Brown (St. Marys/Memorial) led the way with 16, Kendra Parmenter (Grove City) followed with 15, McFarlin added 11, and Adrienne Shepard (Arlington) had 10. Setting up the hitters were Sara Roth and Brooke Ruffer (Stryker) who had 33 and 25 assists, respectively. Roth also led the team serving with four aces.

Defensively, Brown controlled the net with two solo blocks and six block assists. Ruffer and Shepard were there to help assist her (three each) with blocking as well. In middle back, senior libero Lindsay Krohn (Marysville, Ind./New Washington) dug up 29 attacks from Thomas More.

The Beavers will travel to Allegheny College in Meadville, Penn., on Friday for a weekend tournament. They open with Buffalo State at 6 p.m. on Friday evening.

-BEAVERS-