Volleyball Sweeps Otterbein on Senior Night

The Heidelberg College volleyball team swept visiting Otterbein College (25-18, 25-14, 25-17) tonight in Seiberling Gymnasium in an Ohio Athletic Conference match. Heidelberg improves to 25-5 overall and 8-1 in the OAC, while Otterbein falls to 9-21 overall and 2-6 in league action.  The win keeps Heidelberg just one match behind league-leading Ohio Northern University, who has a match left to play in league competition.
 
The win was the 15th-straight by Heidelberg on its home court and marked the most league victories by the Berg when facing a nine-match regular season conference schedule. The victory helped to conclude the successful careers of Emily Hurlburt (St. Mary’s, Ohio / Memorial), Kelsey Elliott (Ottawa, Ohio / Ottawa-Glandorf) and Audra Vucic (Lancaster, Ohio / Fisher Catholic). The trio played in their last regular season home match.
 
Hurlburt finished the night was a match-high 16 kills in 29 attempts without an error for a .552 hitting percentage, while Vucic recorded 10 kills in 23 attempts with just one error for a .391 attack percentage. Elliott added six digs and three kills in the winning effort.
 
Assisting the seniors was Morgan Magers (Green Springs, Ohio / Old Fort) with 27 assists, while the defense was led by Brittany Donelan’s (North Olmsted, Ohio / North Olmsted) 13 digs. Adding 10 digs apiece was Venessa Haase (Miamisburg, Ohio / Miamisburg) and Jackie Reinhart (New Riegel, Ohio / New Riegel).
 
Paced by two kills from Hurlburt, Heidelberg rattled of four-consecutive points to break a 4-4 tie and take control of set one. Heidelberg led by as many as five which forced an Otterbein timeout. Following the timeout the Berg extended its lead to 24-16 before closing things out with a Haase kill and winning 25-18.
 
Natalie Beck (Monroeville, Ohio / Monroeville) came off the bench and served up an ace to give Heidelberg a 10-4 lead in set two. Heidelberg quickly extended its lead to 20-10 on back-to-back kills from Vucic and Hurlburt, cruising to an eventual 25-14 win.
 
Otterbein took an early 4-0 lead in set three, but Heidelberg responded with four points of its own to knot the set. The Cardinals regained its lead on the next point before Vucic added a kill for the Berg and ignited a 6-0 run. The run gave the Berg the momentum and led to an eventual 25-17 set three win.