TIFFIN – The Heidelberg University volleyball team could not slow down the hot-hitting Hiram College Terriers in a non-conference match on Tuesday. The Terriers attacked .310 as a team and won in four sets -- 25-21, 25-16, 25-27, 25-16.

STANDOUT STATS

• Heidelberg's Sarah Parker had a game-high 20 kills, attacking at a .294 clip.
• Janessa Scott was the only other Student Prince with double-digits in kills. She finished with 10.
• Hiram's attack was led by Lindsay Brewer (17 kills) and Jennifer Yardas (13 kills).
• Each team used one primary setter – Hiram's Tierra Moore notched 51 assists and Heidelberg's Stephanie Romie had 46.
  
  
• Hiram's Regina Zyle (23 digs) and Laura Kelly (20 digs) led the Terrier defense.  Jubilee Haase had 20 digs for the Tricolor.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

• Hiram (13-1) dominated play at the net. The Terriers finished with eight team blocks, while The Berg had three.
• Heidelberg (7-10) gave Hiram easy points with 11 service errors

THE FIRST SET

After staying in stride for much of the early going, Heidelberg held a three-point edge after an ace by Megan Flaherty made it 19-16. Hiram would regain the serve on a service error, which ignited a 9-2 set-closing rally for the Terriers. The Hiram run featured three attack errors by the Tricolor.

THE SECOND SET

Heidelberg struggled to find a rhythm offensively in the second stanza, attacking -.023 with just six kills to go along with seven attack errors. After being down early, 4-1, Heidelberg battled back and took a 6-4 lead. Hiram regained its footing and knotted the match at seven. From there, the Terriers would break out to a 12-8 lead and maintained a comfortable cushion for the rest of the set.

THE THIRD SET

Down 2-0, Heidelberg entertained the Seiberling crowd in the third set. Close throughout, with neither team able to build more than a three-point lead, the set came down to the wire. A kill by Rachel Stroski gave the Student Princes a 19-16 lead, but Hiram took advantage of HU miscues and grabbed a 20-19 lead. Out of a timeout, the Berg tied the match on a kill by Mariah Sullivan. Teams traded points to 23-23 before Hiram's Megan Schaefer's ace forced match point. The Student Princes were equal to the task, staving off elimination twice on Parker kills before winning the set on a Hiram error.

THE FOURTH SET

Much like the rest of the match, the teams stayed close at the onset. A kill by Scott tied the match at 13, but that was as close as Heidelberg would get. Hiram closed the match on a 12-3, including a 6-0 run at the end. The run was powered by three kills by Marissa Jay.

QUOTES FROM HEAD COACH JASON MILLER

About Hiram's attack – "They've got two really good outside hitters (Brewer and Jay) ... The game plan going in was to try to slow them down, and I felt we did a decent job with Jay, but just couldn't stop Brewer."

On Heidelberg's performance – "The frustrating part is we didn't execute well. When you put a game plan together, if you don't execute it, it doesn't matter."

About the victorious third set – "Going into the third game we made some adjustments defensively, made a couple adjustments offensively, did some things different and it seemed to kind of spark us and slow them down a little bit ... The kids fought hard to get a win there and I was pleased with that."

About the fourth set as a microcosm of the season – "Coming back into game four, we were right there, 13-13, and then we just shut down, we imploded. And for us, that's been our weakness, we've been inconsistent ... We just haven't been able to stay consistent for three or four sets to get wins against good teams."

UP NEXT

Heidelberg jumps back into OAC action at Marietta College on Friday at 8 p.m. The team will stay along the banks of the Ohio River for the weekend, where they will take on Bethany College and Kenyon College on Saturday.