DELAWARE, Ohio -- With a 3-1 win on Tuesday, the Heidelberg University vollyeball team improved to 8-0 on the season -- matching the best start in program history. Â The Student Princes defeated host Ohio Wesleyan by a score of 25-19, 25-16, 23-25, 25-18. Â The 2006 team, led by All-Americans Morgan Magers and Emily Hurlburt, also started 8-0. Â
In Tuesday's take-down of the Battling Bishops,
Olivia Cristian amassed a team-high 11 kills and had an attack percentage of .390. Â
Amy Feczer had nine kills and no errors on 21 swings, finishing with an attack of .429. Â
Alyssa Crusey had eight kills while
Mya Morris had a strong evening with seven kills and a .385 attack. Â
Julianna Peña tallied 23 assists and
Anna McNabb had 18. Â
Sophomore libero
Sarah Oney notched 22 digs in the four-set match, followed by eight-dig evenings from
Taylor Valentine and
Peyton Miller.Â
As a team, Heidelberg had 13 aces, including five from
Maddie Szawranskyj and three by Peña and Morris. Â Â
The first set moseyed out to a 17-17 deadlock, with neither side able to muster more than a two-point lead. Â From there, however, HU took control and closed the set on an 8-2 run. Â
The Tricolor would maintain momentum in the second set. Â HU built a 10-4 lead before a Feczer kill prompted an OWU timeout. Â Heidelberg was able to cruise to the win, capped by a powerful kill by Cristian that ricocheted off the back-row OWU player and into the bleachers. Â
The hosts would not go quietly. Â OWU took an 8-3 lead in the third and led 15-13 midway through. Â Heidelberg, however, had an ace up its sleeve -- literally. Â Szawranskyj rattled off all five of her aces as part of a 6-0 run that put HU on top, 19-15. Â Late in the third, The Berg held a 23-21 lead. Â The Battling Bishops would recover, taking the final four points of the set and avoiding the sweep.Â
Heidelberg did not mess around in the fourth. Â Perhaps a bit frustrated that they were unable to lock down the sweep, the Student Princes raced out to a 9-2 lead. Â OWU tried to claw their way back, but were not able to get closer than four points. Â A late 4-0 run for HU sealed the set and the match. Â
Though riding high to start the season, a true litmus test awaits the Student Princes this weekend at the Wittenberg Fall Classic. Â Heidelberg will square off against No. 4 Berry, Â No 15 Wisconsin-Whitewater and No. 14 Wittenberg.Â
Â