Volleyball Reigns Among the Nations Elite at Capital Invite

The Heidelberg College volleyball team opened up its 2007 campaign with a 3-1 showing at the Capital Purple and White Invitational hosted by Capital University Aug. 31-Sept.1. The field was comprised of nationally-ranked Capital and Calvin College, as well as Hiram College, who received votes in the preseason poll. Rounding out the field was Otterbein College, Hanover College and DePauw University.

In day one of action, Heidelberg fell to No. 10 Calvin 3-0 (30-26, 30-25, 30-27), but bounced back to sweep Hiram 3-0 (31-29, 30-22, 30-27). The trip to Columbus concluded with a 3-1 (30-21, 28-30, 30-22, 30-28) win over DePauw and a 3-1 (23-30, 30-25, 30-20, 30-18) victory over Hanover.

Eighth-year head coach Jason Miller was pleased with the determination that the entire team possessed throughout its opening weekend. “We played tough in our opening match, eventually falling to a top ranked team in Calvin, but the team rallied around the setback and played with a lot of poise through the rest of the invitational. This weekend has set a high precedent for the upcoming season and we will continually work to maintain a high level of success among not only to top-level programs in the Ohio Athletic Conference, but beyond.”

Against Calvin, juniors Audra Vucic (Lancaster, Ohio / Fisher Catholic) and Emily Hurlburt (St. Mary’s, Ohio / Memorial) led the way with eight kills apiece, while Laurie Patrick (Bellevue, Ohio / Bellevue) picked up seven. Sophomore setter Morgan Magers (Green Springs, Ohio / Old Fort) dished out 28 assists. Senior defensive specialists Kristy Bollenbacher (Huron, Ohio / Huron) and Kendra Orwig (Castalia, Ohio / Margaretta) finished with 13 and 10 digs, respectively.

In its win over Hiram, Patrick and Hurlburt combined to tally 23 kills, while Morgan Magers had 34 assists and Orwig led the way with 20 digs.

On day two of the invitational, Patrick finished with 25 kills in two matches, while Whitney Magers (Green Springs, Ohio / Old Fort) backed Patrick against DePauw with 10 kills and Hurlburt and Vucic finished with 12 and 10 kills, respectively, against Hanover.

Morgan Magers continued to assist her hitters on day two, recording 85 assists. Orwig strung together her third and fourth consecutive match with double-figure digs after leading the way with 15 digs agains DePauw and 13 versus Hanover. Adding depth on defense against DePauw was senior Tracy Sutter (Miamisburg, Ohio / Miamisburg) with 15 digs and newcomer Brittany Donalan (North Olmstead, Ohio / North Olmstead) with 10 digs.

Heidelberg will return to action Sept. 7-8 at the Marcia French Memorial Tournament hosted by Baldwin-Wallace College.