BEXLEY, Ohio – The Heidelberg University volleyball team clinched at least a share of the Ohio Athletic Conference regular season title with a 3-0 sweep of host Capital University on Tuesday. The win (25-13, 25-16, 25-10) pushed Heidelberg to 21-6 and 8-0 in the OAC.

Only Wilmington College (0-24, 0-8) stands in the way of Heidelberg and a perfect conference record for the third time in program history (2009, 2010). Having beaten Ohio Northern earlier this year, Heidelberg is guaranteed to be the No. 1 seed in the eight-team conference tournament, which begins on Tuesday, November 3.

On a night in which head coach Jason Miller was able to get 16 players into the match, Jamie Kluding and Mariah Sullivan paced the club with nine kills apiece. Kluding attacked at a .533 clip and Sullivan hit .412.

Capital (6-22, 1-7 OAC) enjoyed an early lead in the opening set at 5-4, but Heidelberg quickly stormed out to a 13-7 lead. Later, a Kluding kill ignited a 9-2 set-clinching rally. The final two points came on the first pair of collegiate kills by freshman Katie Keegan.

A pair of blocks vaulted Capital to a 4-0 lead at the start of the second set. Consecutive kills by All-American Sarah Parker thwarted much of the Crusader momentum. Tied at 10, Heidelberg took the next five points because of Capital miscues. A Heidelberg blocking error temporarily stopped the bleeding for Cap, but another four attack errors gifted the guests with a 19-12 lead. Megan Mills capped the set with an ace.

Heidelberg dominated the final set. After the Tricolor took the first five points, Capital called timeout. The Crusdaders crawled back to within three on two separate occasions, but the Heidelberg attack proved to be too much. The Student Princes won 11 of the final 12 points in the match – including the final nine.

Karlie DiRuzza tallied 32 assists on the night to bring her season total to 1,020 – ninth on Heidelberg's single-season list.

Defensively, Rachel Raimondo notched a team-high 15 digs.

"Winning the OAC title is something we've talked about since last spring," said Miller, in his 16th season. "The team has worked hard this year to improve and get better each week."

Heidelberg has won the OAC regular season title six times (1986, 2009-2011, 2013, 2015) in its history.

In the OAC quarterfinals, Heidelberg will host the yet-to-be-decided No. 8 seed on Tuesday at 7 p.m. Before that, however, HU closes the regular season at AVCA No. 22 Ohio Wesleyan on Friday and at Wilmington on Saturday. The match with the Battling Bishops is slated for a 7 p.m. start. Saturday's match with the Quakers will begin at 1 p.m.