Ohio Northern Reaches Another Great Lakes Regional Final With Sweep Of Hiram

November 11, 2007
SPRINGFIELD, Ohio - The Ohio Northern Polar Bears have enjoyed plenty of success in the NCAA Division III Volleyball Tournament over the years, and 2007 is proving no different. The 10th-ranked Polar Bears swept 19th-ranked Hiram, 3-0, to advance to the Great Lakes Regional final.

By scores of 30-22, 30-24, 30-17, the Polar Bears, regular season and tournament champion of the Ohio Athletic Conference, improved to 29-6 overall and moved into the regional final against the winner of Friday's second regional semifinal at Wittenberg between the host Tigers and Heidelberg. Hiram, runner-up in the North Coast Athletic Conference, finished its season with a 28-6 record.

ONU got the best of things from the outset and were in control of each of the three games from start to finish. Outside hitter Laura Vuyk and middle hitter Liz Schnelle were an intimidating offensive tandem, combining for 35 kills. As a team, the Polar Bears finished with a .376 attack percentage as Vuyk and Schnelle were both above .300 on the day and Samantha Markham added eight kills against one error on just 12 swings for a tremendous .583 attack percentage.

Defensively, Ohio Northern smothered the Hiram attack, bringing up 58 digs and adding five team blocks on 132 Terrier attack attempts. Amanda Fought led with 17 digs, while Schnelle was tops individually with three blocks. Not to be discounted was the performance of setter Katie Weininger, who dished out 45 assists while committing just two ball-handling errors.

On the other side, Hiram competed well but never found a rhythm. Megan Taylor led offensively with nine kills in 21 attempts and a .381 attack percentage, and she also handed a team-high 20 assists. As a team, however, the Terriers managed just a .182 attack percentage.

The Hiram defense picked up 16 digs from Wendy Birchfield and 12 more from Charley McQueary, but no individual player had more than one block. Brittany Mayle shared the setting duties and finished with 19 on the day.