Kenosha, Wis. – October 30, 2010 – The Ohio Athletic Conference championship volleyball team from Heidelberg University concluded its regular season this weekend with a trip to Carthage College in Kenosha, Wis. to take part in the Carthage Invitational. During its trip to the cheese state Heidelberg, who is ranked 13th in the nation, battled with a host of nationally ranked foes.
The Berg posted a 2-2 record over the two-day tournament to close out the regular season with an overall record of 29-5. Its 29 wins stands second all-time for wins in a season and it is the most wins every during the regular season.
Action began on Friday with a 3-2 (25-18, 25-21, 23-25, 22-25, 16-14) setback to no. 10 Carthage followed by a 3-0 (25-21, 25-15, 26-24) loss to no. 12 University of St. Thomas (Minn.). Today the Berg bounced back to top Trinity University 3-0 (25-12, 25-22, 26-24) and swept (25-13, 25-9, 25-23) no. 17 University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh.
Leading the way on the weekend was sophomore Marian Bevington (Celina, Ohio / Parkway). Over the course of the four matches she tallied 41 kills and 17 blocks to land a spot on the all-tournament team.
Against Carthage, Bevington led the way with a career-high 19 kills, to go along with four blocks. Backing Bevington with 11 kills was Amber Welfle (Norwalk, Ohio / St. Paul) and Jackie Reinhart (New Riegel, Ohio / New Riegel) with 10. Reinhart made it a double-double for the outing with 20 digs. Brittany Donelan (North Olmsted, Ohio / North Olmsted) had a team-best 35 digs followed by Venessa Haase (Miamisburg, Ohio / Miamisburg) with 24. Rachel Ferguson (Brighton, Mich. / Brighton) and bteamed up to dish out 51 assists.
In the setback to St. Thomas, Haase doubled up in the match with 10 kills and 10 digs. Welfle contributed eight kills and two service aces, while Bevington led the way at the net with four block assists and one solo block. Donelan tallied a team-best 17 digs. Setting up the offense was Ferguson with 20 assists.
Saturday began with Bevington and Welfle registering 10 and nine kills, respectively. Heidelberg also served up eight aces with Reinhart finishing with four and Haase with three. Ferguson had 20 assists, while Frank finished with 16. Heidelberg was balanced in the back row with Reinhart leading the way with 14 digs followed by Donelan (12) and Haase (11).
In its finale against UW-Oshkosh Heidelberg utilized a balanced attack to record the sweep. Welfle led things offensively with eight kills, and was backed by Reinhart (7), Bevington (6), Haase (5) and Melissa Eck (Parma, Ohio / Valley Forge) (5). Welfle also recorded three service aces. Donelan and Reinhart once again led the back row with 14 digs apiece. Ferguson and Frank dished out 16 and 14 kills, respectively.
Next up for the Berg is the OAC Tournament. Heidelberg is the no. 1 seed of the eight-team tournament after claiming the regular season title. Quarterfinal action of the tournament begins on Tuesday, Nov. 2. Heidelberg will host no. 8 seeded Muskingum University at 7:00 p.m. in Seiberling Gymnasium.