By: Colton Steiner

WOOSTER, Ohio - The Bluffton Beavers would take the two-hour roadtrip down route 30 to face off against the Westminster Titans and the Hiram Terriers at the College of Wooster. The Beavers would open up with a thriller against the Titans where the contest would go down to the wire where Bluffton would unfortunately fall 3-2. The Beavers would try to bounce back in game two of the evening, but Hiram would come out on top, sweeping Bluffton 3-0. After going 0-2 on the day, the Beavers fall to a record of 5-7 overall. Westminster will improve to 4-4 with Hiram now sitting at 6-1 on the season. 

Bluffton kicked off the day against Westminster College by winning the first set 25-23 after hitting an impressive .441 at the net with 18 kills in the match. They would follow that up with a 25-19 victory in set two, outhitting the Titans .103 to an even .000. Westminster would get in a groove in set number three, knocking off the Beavers with a score of 25-20 before ultimately tying the contest up by winning the fourth set 25-17. With the momentum shifting towards Westminster's side, Bluffton would be unable bounce back as they would fall to the Titans in the final set 15-12, and losing the match 3-2. 

Tallying an impressive number of kills in the outing was Jenna Woods (DeGraff, Ohio / Riverside), who recorded 23 while hitting .183. Madison Brentlinger (Indian Lake) would add 12 kills of her own with 10 digs, while Kasey Sager (Troy) smashed 10 on the day. Having a great day setting up her teammates was Gabby Williams (West Liberty, Ohio / West Liberty-Salem) who dished out 44 assists in the contest while also picking up 14 digs.. Scooping up a total of 20 digs was Emma Organ (Lambertville, MI / St. Ursula Academy), with Lauren Leslie (Morral, Ohio / Ridgedale) adding 16.

Hiram would come out hot in the first set, knocking off the Beavers 25-20 while having a hitting percentage of .268 while Bluffton would sit at .146. The Beavers would pick up the in set two, but would eventually fall 25-23. An improvement after the first set, Bluffton would finish just behind the Terriers in total kills for the set at 14-15. While they were able to make set two a close one, the Beavers would be unable to mount a comeback as Hiram would dominate the third set, winning 25-15 and taking the match 3-0. 

Jenna Woods would lead Bluffton at the net as she recorded 19 kills at a .204 clip. For her work on Friday, Woods was named to the Ginny Hunt Kilt Classic All-Tournament Team! Kasey Sager would be right behind her with nine kills with a hitting percentage of .333. Gabby Williams dish out 30 assists to go along with seven digs, while Emma Organ would be all over the floor as she recorded 24 digs. 

The Beavers will have a week off to regrou before to head down the road to Ada to go up against the Albion Britons on Friday, Sept. 19 with a 1 p.m. start time before facing Alma Scots at 4 p.m.

-BEAVERS-