Sept. 12, 2008

Box Score

SPRINGFIELD, Ohio - The AC volleyball team has won four straight matches and improved to 6-2 overall after a pair of wins on Friday at the Border Battle hosted by Wittenberg in Springfield, Ohio. The Border Battle features Division III schools from Michigan and Ohio and can mean quite a bit come regional selection time later this fall.

Adrian slipped past Mount St. Joseph out of Cincinnati by the scores of 17-25, 26-24, 25-16, 21-25 and 15-11. It was a big win for the Bulldogs as MSJ is receiving votes in the Division III national poll and is one spot out of the top 25. Senior Jenny Carlson led the team with 19 kills and recorded a .260 attack percentage. Sophomore Rebecca Tincknell had a big match at the net with 10 total blocks and seven kills. Junior Valerie Smith had a similar stat line with nine kills and nine blocks while attacking at a .350 clip. Senior Samantha Mercy continued to put up big numbers in the back row as the libero with 24 digs.

Adrian had a little easier time in the second match of the day with a 25-19, 25-14, 19-25, 25-18 win over Hiram out of Hiram, Ohio. Carlson once again led the team with 14 kills and attacked at a .205 clip. Junior Natalie Niblock tallied 44 assists and 10 digs for a double-double. She also had three kills for the Bulldogs. Mercy did herself one better in the second match with 25 digs against Hiram. Junior Courtney Sellers hit .273 from the outside with 11 kills. Freshman Laura Heinz added five kills and a .455 attack percentage. Senior Lucie Smith recorded six kills in nine attempts for a .667 attack percentage.

The Bulldogs will need their "A" game tomorrow as they will face host school #5 Wittenberg in the first match tomorrow followed by #10 Ohio Northern.