Volleyball Takes Home Marcia French Memorial Tournament Title

The Heidelberg College volleyball team posted a perfect 4-0 record en route to winning the 2007 Marcia French Memorial Tournament Title. The tournament was hosted by Baldwin-Wallace College Sept. 7-8 in Berea, Ohio. The four victories extends Heidelberg’s current winning streak to seven matches and gives the Berg an overall record of 7-1 on the year.

Heidelberg opened up action in the tournament on Friday sweeping Denison University (30-24, 30-26, 30-15) and Ohio Athletic Conference foe Baldwin-Wallace (32-30, 30-17, 30-28). On Saturday, Heidelberg topped Daemen College 4-1 (30-13, 30-24, 30-32, 30-19) and Case Western Reserve University 3-0 (30-24, 30-20, 30-16). The win over Baldwin-Wallace marks the first vicotry over the Yellow Jackets for eighth-year head coach Jason Miller.

Leading the way for Heidelberg was its hitting attack. Through four matches, middle hitters Laurie Patrick (Bellevue, Ohio / Bellevue) and Emily Hurlburt (St. Mary’s, Ohio / Memorial) and outside hitter Kelsey Elliott (Ottawa, Ohio / Ottawa-Glandorf) combined to record 109 kills and all earned a spot on the All-Tournament Team. Patrick led the way with 43 kills, including 14 against Daemen and 12 versus Case Western Reserve, while Hurlburt tallied 37 kills. Hurlburt put together two double-figure kill matches with 10 against B-W and 11 against CWRU. Elliott averaged just over seven kills a match through the four matches.

In the win over Denison, sophomore setter Morgan Magers (Green Springs, Ohio / Old Fort) dished out 34 assists. Adding depth to Heidelberg’s attack was Audra Vucic (Lancaster, Ohio / Fisher Catholic) with eight kills. Kendra Orwig (Castalia, Ohio / Margaretta) led four with double figures digs with 19. Orwig was followed by freshman Brittany Donelan (North Olmstead, Ohio / North Olmstead) with 15.

The Baldwin-Wallace match saw Morgan Magers dish out 32 assists, with sister Whitney Magers (Green Springs, Ohio / Old Fort) contributing to seven. Orwig finished with 15 digs, while Kristy Bollenbacher (Huron, Ohio / Huron) tallied 12 digs and scored three points on service aces.

Saturday against Daemen, Morgan Magers record 41 assists. Whitney Magers and Vucic joined forces with hitters Patrick, Hurlburt and Elliott to record seven kills apiece. Leading the defense was Orwig with 24 digs and Morgan Magers picked up a double-double after tallying 14 digs. Donelan had another strong performance, finishing with 12 digs.

Heidelberg rounded out the tournament against Case Western Reserve. Aside from Patrick and Hurlburt’s 12 and 11 kills, respectively, Elliott tallied seven and Whitney Magers finished with six. Morgan Magers had 37 assists, while Orwig and Tracy Sutter (Miamisburg, Ohio / Miamisburg) recorded 14 digs apiece. Bollenbacher had four service aces, while Sutter tallied three.

The Berg will return to action at Defiance on Tuesday, Sept. 11. Match is slated to begin at 7:00 p.m.