Scots Take Down Beavers, Fall to Quakers

RICHMOND, Ind. – The College of Wooster volleyball team closed out the month of October by splitting a tri-match against two Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference (HCAC) foes at Earlham College on Saturday.

The Fighting Scots came from behind to defeat Bluffton University 3-2 (25-14, 14-25, 19-25, 25-23, 15-10) and rounded out the day with a 3-0 loss (25-16, 25-22, 25-17) to the host Quakers.

In the triumph over the Beavers, which avenged a straight-set loss in September, Wooster put down 11 kills and just two errors in the first set en route to a convincing 25-14 win. Bluffton leveled the match with a 25-14 set victory of its own.

The Beavers rattled off the first six points of the third set, which included two aces from Emma Organ. However, Wooster forced four attack errors from Jenna Woods on the serves of both Trinity Harmon and Ty Thompson to get back on serve.

A Tamara Turner service ace gave the Scots a slim 10-9 advantage. Unfortunately, that would prove to be Wooster's only lead of the set as the Beavers kept the Scots out of system with six service aces to take the set 25-19. 

Leading 2-1, Bluffton looked to close out the match in four sets by jumping out to an 8-1 advantage. However, Wooster began to chip away at the deficit.

A service run from Caroline Dillard made the score 10-7, and late in the set, consecutive attack errors gave the Scots an 18-17 lead, their first of the set. Both sides went back and forth, but kills from Emma Fleck and Troy Johnson gave Wooster a 24-21 lead and three set points. Bluffton fought off two of them, but Thompson and Johnson teamed up for a block to set the match to a deciding fifth set. 

Wooster jumped out to a lead by scoring the first four points, two from Turner aces, and forcing a timeout from long-time Bluffton Head Coach Steve Yarnell. His Beavers would get within a point at 6-5 and at 8-7, but could not tie the set as the Scots secured their third five-set victory of the season.

Wooster hit a .202 clip for the match with Dillard and Turner each having double-digit kills. Fleck and Thompson ran the offense and combined to assist on 34 of the Scots' 43 kills. Harmon added 19 digs

In the nightcap, the Scots were limited offensively, hitting under a .100 clip in both the first and third sets against Earlham. The second set was tight throughout with neither team leading by more than three points. In fact, the Quakers, who would go on to win the set 25-22 and the match, only led by three points twice until an Aniyah Harrington kill ended the set.

The Quakers hit .226 for the match with 40 kills and 14 errors. Harrington led everyone with 11 kills while Maria Young and Caylee Brandes added nine and eight kills, respectively.

Dillard finished with 10 kills for Wooster while Thompson and Fleck combined to assist on 20-of-29 kills. Johnson added two blocks.

Wooster (8-15) will close out its regular season against Case Western Reserve University for a senior day match on Nov. 4.