By: Colton Steiner
BLUFFTON, Ohio - The Bluffton Beavers would kick off the annual Sommer Center Spiketacular, with five teams being invited with the Adrian Bulldogs, the Olivet Comets, the Heidelberg Student Princes, and the Baldwin Wallace Yellow Jackets. Bluffton would open up against the Adrian Bulldogs, and it wouldn't didn't disappoint as the game would go four thrilling sets, with the Beavers coming out on top, winning 3-1. Following a short break, Bluffton would go up against the Olivet Comets, where they would cruise to a 3-0 sweep to finish the day 2-0 on the first day of the Sommer Center Spiketacular. With the pair of wins, the Beavers improve to 9-10 overall heading into day two of their invitational.
Both teams would come out swinging, but Bluffton would come away with a 26-24 set one win. The Beavers were efficient, hitting .227 with a 15-12 kill advantage to start the contest. Set two would be even more exciting, with each unit going on runs and neither team wanting to give in, but Bluffton ultimately coming out on top, with a 30-28 second set victory. With a .129 hitting percentage over Adrian's .104, the Beavers would rack up 20 total kills in set two as they took a 2-0 lead. Despite being up, the Bulldogs would rebound and take the third set 25-19 to cut the lead to 2-1. The visitors would have their best set at the net, hitting .276, while Bluffton was at .000. Each teams would fight in the fourth set, with neither team leading by more than four, but the Beavers would be able to find their footing and seal a 3-1 victory as they knocked off Adrian 29-27 in the fourth and final set.
Jenna Woods (DeGraff/Riverside) would have a solid outing, racking up a team-high 19 kills with a .164 hitting percentage. Not far behind her was Kasey Sager (Troy) with 13 kills and Madison Brentlinger (Indian Lake) with 12 kills, with Brentlinger having a team-leading .237 kill percentage along with 15 digs. Another Beaver that was all over the court scooping up digs was Emma Organ (Lambertville, MI/St. Ursula Academy), who tallied a game-high 35 digs in the match. Two Beavers were dishing out assists left and right, with Ella Taylor (Urbana) leading with 27 and Gabby Williams (West Liberty/West Liberty-Salem) recording 25 against the Bulldogs.
The Beavers would take the momentum from the first game and take it into the second game against Olivet, where they would cruise to a 25-15 win in set one, where there was only one lead change and only one tie the entire set. Bluffton would be dominant at the net, with 15 kills at a .367 hitting percentage, while holding the Comets to eight kills to start the game. Going into the second set, the Comets would find some life, hitting 10 kills in the set at a .108 rate, but would still fall to the home team 25-20. The Beavers would still be strong at the front line, collecting 15 kills with a hitting percentage of .227. Leading 2-0, the Beavers would only lose the lead one time in set three as they would cruise to a 25-16 win to seal the 3-0 sweep of the Comets. With 14 kills in the set, Bluffton was able to hit .238 for the set, while the Comets had nine kills and had a .000 hitting percentage.
Leading the way for the Beavers at the net was senior Jenna Woods, who smacked home a dozen kills at a .321 rate, with Kasey Sager right behind her with a .389 hitting percentage and 10 kills. Emma Organ was all over the hardwood, collecting 16 digs, with Madison Brentlinger recording 11 digs. Setting up the hitters with 19 assists apiece were Gabby Williams and Ella Taylor.
Bluffton will kick right back into action on Saturday, Sept. 27, when they compete in the second and final day of the Sommer Center Spiketacular. They will start the day off by going head-to-head with Heidelberg at 10 a.m. before facing off against Baldwin Wallace at 2:30 p.m.
-BEAVERS-