Tiffin, Ohio – September 14, 2010 – The no. 19 ranked Heidelberg University volleyball team swept Defiance College in its home opener. The non-conference match began with a 25-19 Heidelberg win in set one and the sweep was closed out with a 25-14 win in set two and a 25-19 win in set three. Heidelberg increases its record to 8-2, while Defiance falls to 2-7.
Heidelberg had a balanced attack and finished the match with 40 kills and a .382 attack percentage. Leading the Student Princes with nine kills in 15 attempts with no errors was Amber Welfle (Norwalk, Ohio / St. Paul). Welfle finished hitting .600 which was backed by OAC Player of the Week Venessa Haase’s (Miamisburg, Ohio / Miamisburg) .566. Haase totaled five kills in nine attempts with no errors. Paving the way for Berg’s attack game was sophomore Rachel Ferguson (Brighton, Mich. / Brighton) with 14 assists. Freshman Alexa Frank (Tiffin, Ohio / Calvert) also contributed eight.
Ending the match, the Berg served up nine aces against the Yellow Jackets. Leading the way with four aces was Haase, accompanied by Jackie Reinhart (New Riegel, Ohio / New Riegel) with two.
The back row was led by senior All-American libero Brittany Donelan (North Olmsted, Ohio / North Olmsted) with 10 digs for the night. Haase contributed defensively as well ending the match with 10 digs.
The Berg continues play this weekend at the Wittenberg Border Battle in Springfield, Ohio. Action begins on Friday against Calvin College at 3:00 p.m., followed by Concordia University at 7:00 p.m.