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October 27, 2010
Bluffton hands Coach Yarnell victory #100 in win at Defiance
By: Erin Oberly, sports information assistant
DEFIANCE, Ohio -The Bluffton University women’s volleyball team turned out a down-to-the-wire victory at conference rival Defiance College on Wednesday, October 27, 2010. Despite dropping the third set, the Beavers were able to pull out the win 25-15, 25-18, 25-27, 26-24. With the win, Bluffton moved to 20-6 overall and 6-2 in conference play, while Defiance fell to 12-17 overall and 3-6 in the HCAC. For the third consecutive season, the Beavers have now garnered a 20-plus win season, and the victory also handed Head Coach Steve Yarnell his 100th win at Bluffton University.
Leading the way for the Beavers was senior Shauna
Rowland (Bucyrus/Wynford) as she directed the offense with
42 assists. She connected with junior Courtney
Zimmerman (Leesburg/Fairfield) who slammed down 14 kills
as well as Heather Schierer (Crescent Springs,
Ky./St. Henry) who put down 11 kills. Rounding out the Beaver
attack was junior Nicole Wood
(Tiffin/Hopewell-Loudon) with eight kills and senior
Allison Streicher (Continental) who had seven
kills. Freshman Hailey Phillips (Malinta/Patrick
Henry) dished out four service aces for the Beavers.
Bluffton’s defense once again played a key part in
Wednesday night’s victory as it was led by senior
Mandi Leemaster (Fremont/Old Fort) who scooped up
20 digs, followed by Rowland with 18 digs. Schierer and
Streicher tallied nine digs apiece. The Beavers were led at
the net by senior Heather Rodman
(Mansfield/Mansfield-Christian) as she put down five blocks,
followed by Zimmerman with four stuffs.
Bluffton hits the road when it travels to DePauw
University on Friday evening at 7 p.m. They then move on to compete
in their final conference match-up against Franklin College
Saturday at 1 p.m. The two weekend matches are the final regular
season meetings for the Beavers who will play host to
Rose-Hulman next Tuesday, Nov. 2 in the first round of the
HCAC post-season tournament.
