Ellie Gillespie leads Volleyball with 15 kills in sweep of Bluffton
By Tim Glon
ADA — Sophomore Ellie Gillespie tied a season-high with 15 kills to lead the Ohio Northern volleyball team to a 25-21, 25-11, 25-17 victory over area-rival Bluffton Wednesday night in the ONU Sports Center.
The Polar Bears end the non-conference portion of their schedule with a 10-6 record, while the Beavers fall to 7-10.
This marks the second time in five days that ONU has swept BU, as Ohio Northern posted a 25-16, 25-18, 25-20 victory Saturday afternoon at the OAC/HCAC Challenge at Capital.
Freshman Claire Heitkamp added nine kills, sophomore Heather Saunier dished out 22 assists and senior Jeni Kmic had 15 digs to lead ONU.
Bluffton was led by Jenny Brown and MacKenzie McFarlin with nine kills each.
Leading 19-18 in Set 1, kills by freshman Taylor Vuich and Gillspie keyed a 6-3 run to end the set.
In Set 2, Northern took control early with an 8-1 run to go ahead 14-5. Heitkamp, freshman Ashley Borchers and Gillespie all had kills and Kmic had an ace in the run.
In Set 3, BU went ahead early, only to see ONU respond with an 11-2 run to take a 17-12 advantage.
Ohio Northern hit .277 for the match with 37 kills and 11 errors on 94 attempts. Bluffton hit .092 with 32 kills and 22 errors on 109 attempts.
The Polar Bears will return to action on Saturday with their Ohio Athletic Conference opener at Capital at Noon.
