Heidelberg Drops Two Matches Over The Weekend

The Heidelberg College volleyball team dropped two matches over the weekend at Denison University. The Berg opened action on Saturday with a 3-2 (26-30, 30-26, 30-28, 17-30, 13-15) setback to Wittenberg University and returned that afternoon and suffered a 3-2 (30-28, 29-31, 30-17, 28-30, 6-15) heartbreaker to host Denison. Following Saturday’s action the Berg owns an overall record of 17-9.

Against Wittenberg, Laurie Patrick (Bellevue, Ohio / Bellevue) led three with double figure kills with 23. Emily Hurlburt (St. Mary’s, Ohio / Memorial) and Audra Vucic (Lancaster, Ohio / Fisher Catholic) backed Patrick with 13 and 12 kills, respectively. Freshman setter Morgan Magers (Green Springs, Ohio / Old Fort) dished out a season-high 62 assists to go along with 16 digs, while senior libero Megan Kempf (Olmsted Twp., Ohio / St. Joseph’s) led the defense with 33 digs.

In the loss to Denison, sophomore Kelsey Elliott (Ottawa, Ohio / Ottawa-Glandorf) recorded a career-high 19 kills to pace Heidelberg. Hurlburt tallied 13 kills, while Patrick recorded her fourth-straight double-digit kill match, finishing with 10. Magers continued her strong play, finishing with her fourth double-double on the season and her second on the day which included 56 assists and a career-high 20 digs. Kempf led the defense with 44 digs, while Kristy Bollenbacher (Huron, Ohio / Huron) tallied 26.

Kempf headed into Saturday needing 58 digs to overtake the top spot in the single-season record book. Heading into the 2006 season, Kempf, along with Sarah Witkowski, held the single-season record for digs at 630. Following Kempf's 44 digs against Denison, she currently has 650 digs with 10 regular season matches still left on the schedule. Earlier in the year, Kempf overtook the career dig record. In four seasons in a Berg uniform, Kempf has accumulated 2,152 digs, surpassing the old mark of 1,714 held by Sarah Hess.

Heidelberg resumes Ohio Athletic Conference action Oct. 17 against visiting Ohio Northern University. Match is slated to begin at 7:00 p.m. Prior to the start of the match, the Berg will recognize seniors Breena McCool (Tiffin, Ohio / Old Fort) and Kempf, who will be playing in their final regular season home match in Seiberling Gymnasium.