09-02-06VB

Volleyball Opens Up 2006 With A 4-0 Record

The Berg is off to its best start through four matches since 1991

The Heidelberg College volleyball team is off to a 4-0 start in its 2006 campaign following three-game sweeps over Allegheny (30-15, 30-26, 30-19), West Liberty (30-9, 30-20, 30-21) and Wooster (30-28, 30-22, 30-24) and a 3-2 victory over DePauw (30-10, 27-30, 30-23, 31-33, 15-12) at the Capital Invitational. The 4-0 start by the Berg is the best start through four matches for Heidelberg since going 4-0 to begin the 1991 season.

For the weekend Heidelberg carried a balanced attack led by junior middle hitter Laurie Patrick (Bellevue, Ohio / Bellevue) with 40 kills and a .303 attack percentage. Sophomore Audra Vucic (Lancaster, Ohio / Fisher Catholic) followed closely behind Patrick with 32 kills while fellow classmates Emily Hurlburt (St. Mary’s, Ohio / Memorial), Whitney Magers (Green Springs, Ohio / Old Fort) and Kelsey Elliott (Ottawa, Ohio / Ottawa-Glandorf) tallied 29, 26 and 23 kills, respectively.

In the win over Wooster, Hurlburt set a new career mark in kills with 12 while Vucic and Elliott set new career marks in kills at 19 and 12, respectively against DePauw.

Leading the offense through out the weekend was newcomer Morgan Magers (Green Springs, Ohio / Old Fort) who dished out 107 assists. She tallied 30 or more assists in three matches, including 37 in the win over DePauw.

Defensively for Heidelberg, senior libero Megan Kempf (Olmsted Twp., Ohio / St. Joseph Academy) led the way with 89 digs, which included 30 in the win over DePauw. Defensive specialist Kendra Orwig (Castalia, Ohio / Margaretta) added 27 digs followed by 26 from Whitney Magers. At the net, Patrick finished with four solo blocks and 26 block assists while Hurlburt compiled 25 blocks assists and three solo blocks.

"We got some quality wins this weekend and it is a great start to the year," said seventh-year head coach Jason Miller. "The team wants to win and comes to play with a lot of heart and it shows on the court."