ADA, Ohio—The No. 12 Heidelberg University volleyball team opened the 2011 season today with two sweeps at the two-day Ohio Northern University Invitational in Ada. The Berg defeated Trine (Ind.) University, 3-0 (25-13, 25-12, 25-17), in the afternoon contest and followed it up with a 3-0 (25-18, 25-15, 25-5) sweep of Carnegie Mellon (Pa.) University at the ONU Sports Center.
Heidelberg outscored its opponents 150-80.
“I was pleased overall,” said 12th-year head coach Jason Miller. “Tessa did a nice job [defensively], I thought,” Miller added of freshman defensive specialist Tessa Benanzer (Fort Loramie), who totaled 18 digs in her first two career matches.
“This gives us a good base for the season and an opportunity for us to grow and work toward our goal.”
Against Trine, senior second-team All-OAC outside hitter Venessa Haase (Miamisburg) led the way with a match-high 10 kills in 16 attacks, and senior reigning Ohio Athletic Conference player of the year Jackie Reinhart (New Riegel) and sophomore middle hitter Amber Welfle (Norwalk/St. Paul) contributed eight kills apiece. Reinhart also served four aces.
Helping the offensive attack were junior setter Rachel Ferguson (Brighton, Mich./Brighton ) and local sophomore Alexa Frank (Tiffin/Calvert) with a match-high 14 assists and 10 assists, respectively.
Defensively, Reinhart dug a match-high 10 balls, while junior second-team All-OAC middle hitter Marian Bevington (Celina/Parkway) blocked a match-high four attacks.
The Berg limited Trine to just one service ace and one block.
Against Carnegie Mellon, Bevington provided much of the scoring with match-highs of 11 kills and two solo blocks. Ferguson again guided the attack with 13 of the Berg’s assists, finishing with 27 helpers for the day.
Reinhart and Haase added seven kills apiece, while Benanzer notched her first career double-digit effort with 11 digs.
The Berg allowed just 17 forced points, all of which came via Carnegie Mellon kills.
Heidelberg will play two more matches tomorrow—against Defiance College at 10 a.m. and Thiel (Pa.) College at 12 p.m.—before returning to Tiffin.