No. 18 Ohio Northern Volleyball defeats area-rival Bluffton in four games

By Steven Wright

ADA — Senior Laura Vuyk had a solid all-around performance, recording a double-double of 13 kills and 15 digs to lead No. 18 Ohio Northern volleyball past area-rival Bluffton 30-22, 28-30, 30-20, 30-13 Tuesday evening in Founders Hall.

The Polar Bears are now 5-4 on the year while the Beavers drop to 6-4.

Leading the Northern offense was sophomore Liz Schnelle who had 16 kills.

Freshman Abby Schaller nearly reached double-digits with nine kills and junior Samantha Markham nailed eight kills on 13 attempts without a hitting error.

Offensive catalyst Katie Weininger dished out 49 assists from the setter position while adding seven kills, three aces and two digs.

Sophomore libero Mandi Fought was solid in the back row, recording 24 digs.

Fellow sophomore defensive specialists Renee Berry and Liz Decima each tallied eight digs for the Polar Bears.

ONU had a great night blocking at the net with 13 total blocks.

Schnelle led the team with seven while Markham and freshman right side hitter Melissa Goodman each had five total blocks.

Ohio Northern will return to action on Friday and Saturday to participate in the Border Battle held at Wittenberg’s HPER Center.

The Polar Bears will face Calvin (Mich.) at 1 pm and Alma (Mich.) at 5 pm on Friday and will play Hope (Mich.) at 10 am and Adrian (Mich.) at 2 pm on Saturday.