CLEVELAND -- The Heidelberg University Volleyball team emerged unbeaten in a quad match in Cleveland, beating host Case Western Reserve on Friday before picking up wins over Westminster and Olivet on Saturday. Heidelberg improved to 6-2 on the season.
The win over Westminster was the 500th career victory for Head Coach
Jason Miller. He becomes just the fourth coach in Ohio Athletic Conference history to reach the 500-win milestone.
Kaitlyn Uffman led the team with 26 kills and eight blocks over the three matches.
Sophia Simon added 23 kills while
Addyson McCallister tallied 18.
Gabby Wolfe hit .308 and tallied 15 kills.
Maddie Reed and
Olivia Miller set up the offense, earning 51 and 46 assists, respectively. Reed had a team-best nine aces.
Defensively,
Grace Dohanyos had 73 digs and 75 serve receptions, leading HU in both categories.
HEIDELBERG 3 CWRU 1 (28-26, 25-21, 14-25, 25-18)
The Berg trailed CWRU (0-6) in the opening set, 14-5, before storming back by winning eight of the next nine. Both teams had a crack at set point, but HU grabbed the last three points -- a block by Uffman and
Emma Jones, an attack error, and a kill from Jones -- to win it.
The second set was tied at 21 before HU rattled off the next four, punctuated by a Wolfe/Uffman block.
The third set was ugly, but Heidelberg took control of the fourth set by taking 11 of 13 points in the front half of the set. They held on for the win, capped by a kill from
Rylee Ritzhaupt.
HEIDELBERG 3 WESTMINSTER (Pa.) 0 (25-19, 25-20, 25-22)
The Student Princes opened up Saturday with a sweep of the Titans (3-3). After leading the opening set 17-9, HU watched as Westminster fought back to within one at 20-19. Undeterred, an Uffman kill ignited a 5-0 run to capture the set.
Westminster led the second set, 19-17, but HU embarked an 8-1 run that came off of eight Titan attack errors.
In a seesaw third set, HU went on a late run to seal the sweep.
HEIDELBERG 3 OLIVET 2 (24-26, 25-17, 23-25, 25-21, 15-12)
Having missed out on set point before losing in the first, the Student Princes responded with a solid win in the second. They trailed 16-15, but took 10 of the next 11 points to even the match. Reed ended the set with a pair of aces.
The Comets rallied late for a win in the third and looked to close out the match in the fourth. Undeterred, HU bounced back to force the fifth.
There, Olivet led 7-3 and held an 8-5 advantage at the switch. Uffman came alive at the end, picking up four kills in HU's final seven points. In the end, it was a finish by McCallister that sealed the win.
BEYOND THE BOX SCORE
Miller sits fourth in OAC history with 501 wins, trailing Kate Witte (ONU, 742), Beth Zicha (MUSK, 689), and Sheila Wallace (ONU, 516) … Coupled with his 85 dual meet wins as head wrestling coach, Miller has won 586 contests as a coach … Adding in his 136 individual victories as a wrestler, he has a total of 722 wins for the Tricolor.
UP NEXT
Heidelberg visits Alma on Tuesday, then welcomes Ohio Wesleyan to Seiberling Gymnasium for the home opener on Wednesday. The Student Princes will look to avenge a loss to the Battling Bishops in Sandusky. First serve is slated for 7 p.m.
