Volleyball Earns At-Large Bid to NCAA Championships
Fresh off the program’s first appearance in the Ohio Athletic Conference Tournament finals, the Heidelberg College volleyball team, under the guidance of the OAC Coach of the Year Jason Miller, has earned an at-large bid to the NCAA Division III Volleyball Championships. The NCAA Division III Women’s Volleyball Committee announced late Sunday night the field of 61 teams for the 2007 championships.
“We want to thank the members of the NCAA selection committee for giving us this opportunity to, not only represent Heidelberg College, but the Ohio Athletic Conference as well,” stated Miller. “Our goal is to continue playing our style of volleyball and enjoy the experience of being able to play with the nations elite Division III programs.”
Automatic qualifications for the championship were handed out to 38 conferences, with Ohio Northern University earning the OAC’s bid. Aside from the automatic qualifiers, four teams were picked from Pool B, which consists of independent institutions and institutions that are members of conferences that do not meet the requirements for automatic qualifications. The final 19 berths were set aside for Pool C, which were schools from automatic-qualifying conferences that are not conference champion and any remaining Pool B teams.
Heidelberg, who will be playing in its first NCAA Championship, will take part in the Wittenberg Regional beginning on Nov. 8 with a match time yet to be determined. The Berg will square off against Rochester Institute of Technology in an openimg round match. A complete bracket with dates, sites and pairings can be found at www.ncaasports.com. RIT is a member of the Empire 8 Conference and is located in Rochester, N.Y. The Tigers are coming off a runner-up finish in the Empire 8 Tournament to Stevens Institute of Technology. RIT stands at 31-10 overall and will be making their 10th appearance in the championship and first since 1999.
Heading into the NCAA Championships, the Berg boasts an overall record of 26-10. The 26 wins ties for second all-time in the history of the program and is just one shy of the record of 27. Heidelberg opened the year with a setback to nationally-ranked Calvin College before streaking through 14-consecutive opponents. In Ohio Athletic Conference action on the year, Heidelberg finished at 7-2, which marked the most league wins since tallying seven in 1990. En route to its 7-2 mark in league play, Heidelberg stood third in the final standings and earned the right to host a quarterfinal match in its 16th trip to the OAC Tournament. Heidelberg had not won an OAC Tournament match in its 15 previous appearances, but silenced all critics with a 3-1 win over Muskingum and went on to top Mount Union in five games, before falling in the championship match to Ohio Northern.
Leading the way for Heidelberg heading into regional play is a trio of All-OAC performers highlighted by second team honorees middle hitters Emily Hurlburt (St. Mary’s, Ohio / Memorial) and Laurie Patrick (Bellevue, Ohio / Bellevue), along with honorable mention selection setter Morgan Magers (Green Springs, Ohio / Old Fort). Hurlburt, a junior, is coming off a career-high of 24 kills in the OAC semifinals against Mount Union and leads the team with 363 kills and a .338 attack percentage, while also serving an integral part on defense at the net with a team-best 112 blocks. Patrick is in her final season at the Berg and ranks second on the team in kills (356), attack percentage (.312) and blocks (102). Morgan Magers is just a sophomore but has led the Berg offense since day one as a freshman. On the year she has 1,380 assists, which ranks second in the single-season record book only to her record of 1,391 as a freshman.
Complimenting Heidelberg’s middle hitters from the outside is senior Whitney Magers (Green Springs, Ohio / Old Fort) and junior Audra Vucic (Lancaster, Ohio / Fisher Catholic). Whitney Magers and Vucic rank third and fourth on the team in kills with 291 and 281, respectively. Whitney Magers also has a team-leading 68 service aces on the year, which is a new single-season record at the Berg. Also adding depth to Heidelberg’s attack game has been junior Kelsey Elliott (Ottawa, Ohio / Ottawa-Glandorf) and senior Katie Jones (Akron, Ohio / Green).
Defensively, a trio of seniors in Kendra Orwig (Castalia, Ohio / Margaretta), Kristy Bollenbacher (Huron, Ohio / Huron) and Tracy Sutter (Miamisburg, Ohio / Miamisburg) has welcomed in newcomer Brittany Donelan (North Olmsted, Ohio / North Olmsted) to the back row rotation to give Heidelberg a solid defensive presence. Orwig leads the way with 740 digs, which is second in the single-season record book, while Sutter follows with 444 digs and Bollenbacher has 435. In her first year, Donelan has tallied 364 digs. Stepping beyond the service line Heidelberg’s defensive players are able to secure some solid scoring. Bollenbacher follows Whitney Magers with 51 service aces, while Orwig has 41, Sutter has 39 and Donelan stands at 16.
Championship Sendoff Photo Gallery
Great Lakes Regional Tournament Web Site - Hosted by Wittenberg University, Springfield, Ohio