'Berg's Fearless Run in OAC Tournament Suffers Finals Setback

The No. 3 seeded Heidelberg College volleyball team’s run in the 2007 Ohio Athletic Conference Tournament fell just one win shy of a championship with a 3-0 (32-30, 30-28, 30-24) setback to No. 1 seed and host Ohio Northern University.

With the win, ONU earns the OAC’s automatic bid to the NCAA Championships. Heidelberg stands at 26-10 on the year and will look for an opportunity to make its inaugural trip to the NCAA Tournament via an at-large bid, which will be announced Sunday (Nov. 4) evening.

Aside from receiving its OAC Runner-Up Trophy following the match, Heidelberg placed three players on the 2007 All-OAC Team, along with head coach Jason Miller being tabbed as the OAC Coach of the Year. Earning a spot on the second team was Laurie Patrick (Bellevue, Ohio / Bellevue) and Emily Hurlburt (St. Mary’s, Ohio / Memorial), while Morgan Magers (Green Springs, Ohio / Old Fort) was named to the honorable mention list.

In game one, Heidelberg built a six point lead, 27-21 on a kill from Patrick from the right to left side forcing an Ohio Northern time out. Following the break, ONU went on to outscore the Berg 11-3 for the game one win.

Nine ties and five lead changes were featured in game two of the OAC Championship. Heidelberg erased a five-point deficit on an ONU attack error to top the scoreboard at 22-21. Two more ties were featured before Ohio Northern took a 29-28 lead and went on to win the game on a short serve just over the net.

Audra Vucic (Lancaster, Ohio / Fisher Catholic) opened game three with a kill to give Heidelberg the momentum to build an eventual 16-11 lead. ONU battled back to knot the game at 18-18 before taking the lead at 22-21. ONU went on to finish the game on top 30-24.

For the match, Vucic led the Berg with 14 kills, while Patrick and Hurlburt picked up 12 and 11 kills, respectively. Morgan Magers tallied her third-straight double-double of the tournament after finishing with 42 assists and 13 digs. Kendra Orwig (Castalia, Ohio / Margaretta) led the back row with 21 digs.