TIFFIN -- On Senior Day, the Heidelberg University volleyball team fell to No. 15 Muskingum University, 3-2. The Student Princes won the first two sets before dropping the final three -- 22-25, 23-25, 25-18, 25-18, 17-15. As a result, HU finished the regular season at 21-7, 5-4 OAC -- and will head into next week's conference tournament as the No. 4 seed.
Prior to the game, the program honored its seniors --
Jordann Gudorf,
Taylor Valentine,
Alyssa Crusey,
Mya Morris,
Anna McNabb and student assistant
Ashley Hasselbach.
Gudorf led the team with a career-high 15 kills. Freshman
Olivia Cristian followed with 14 kills and Valentine with 13 kills.
McNabb dished out 28 assists while Julianna Pena added 21.
Defensively,
Amy Feczer tallied 10 total blocks while Gudorf added five.
Sarah Oney notched 26 digs, while
Peyton Miller (16), Valentine (16) and Crusey (10) each reached double figures.
Heidelberg hit .231 and .233 as a team in the first two sets, then seemed to lose its rhythm -- attacking .077, .114 and .122 the rest of the way.
In the fifth set, Heidelberg held a 14-11 lead. Muskingum took the next four points, though, and seemed to suck the air out of Seiberling Gymnasium. A powerful kill by Feczer staved off elimination once, but kills by Emma Dunham and Kaitlin Goedde-Noble sealed the win for the visitors.
Muskingum (25-2, 8-1) claimed a share of the OAC Regular Season title and will be the No. 2 seed in the OAC tournament. Ohio Northern, co-champions, received the top seed.
Heidelberg will host No. 5 seed Baldwin Wallace on Tuesday in the opening round of the tournament. The match will begin at 7 p.m.
Ticket prices, as set forth by the conference, are $8 for adults, $6 for seniors 62+, and $3 for non-OAC students. OAC students are admitted free of charge with a valid ID, but season passes are not valid.