As he prepared the #21 Heidelberg University volleyball team for the Wittenberg Fall Classic, head coach Jason Miller knew the competition would be tough.
After all, not every nine-team tournament features six teams ranked in the AVCA Top 25 poll.
Heidelberg opened with a 3-1 (25-15, 19-25, 25-15, 25-10) win on Friday against unranked Alma College. On Saturday, the Student Princes dropped a pair of matches, 3-0 (25-20, 26-24, 25-17) to #1 Washington and 3-0 (25-18, 25-23, 25-19) to #3 Calvin.
Seniors Marian Bevington (Celina/Parkway) and Rachel Ferguson (Brighton, MI) paced Heidelberg offensively.
Through the three games, Bevington finished with 39 kills, which included 22 kills against Alma.
Ferguson finished with 99 sets on the weekend, which raised her career total to 2077. She is the third player in Heidelberg history to reach the 2,000 set plateau.
Defensively, sophomore libero Tessa Benanzer (Fort Loramie) had 69 digs to lead the team for the tournament. Ferguson finished with 29 digs.
“It was good for our girls to see such quality competition,” said Miller. “These types of games will help us as we move forward.”
Heidelberg volleyball is back in action on Wednesday, September 18 at Wilmington for the opening match of the Ohio Athletic Conference season.