TIFFIN, Ohio - Not bad for a middle hitter. Tiffin volleyball senior Jenna Huffman reached the 1,000 dig milestone on Tuesday night as the Dragons swept visiting Slippery Rock 25-14, 25-14, 25-15.
Huffman reached the mark in the third set with her sixth dig of the night, and the game was momentarily paused so she could receive a standing ovation from the crowd as she hugged family and friends.
In addition to this accomplishment, the senior is also creeping up on the 1,500 kills mark, needing just 73 more to achieve that milestone. Before that, however, she only needs 22 kills to break the program's career kills record as a member of Division II.
In tonight's game, Huffman again led the Dragons in kills with 15 to go along with a .313 hitting percentage, three aces, eight digs, and a blocks. Alicia Kessler chipped in eight kills, six digs, and two blocks, while Grace Schreiber had seven kills and three blocks.
Sam Fallis led the team with 18 digs, and Loryn Huffman added 15 digs to go with her 37 assists.
The Dragons had a stark advantage on the attack, hitting .283 as a team while The Rock hit just .027. Tiffin was able to force side out on over 56% of opportunities throughout the match, while Slippery Rock stayed under 36% in all three sets.
Tiffin dominated from start to finish, as the lead only changed hands three times during the entire contest. The rout started early, as after a 1-1 tie moments in, Tiffin went on an 8-0 run that included three Jenna Huffman kills to go up 9-1. TU would also go up 12-3 and 16-5 before The Rock was able to put a couple runs together later in the set, but the Dragons held strong for the 25-14 victory.
Slippery Rock came out fighting in set two, jumping out to a 4-1 lead. Tiffin quickly erased the deficit, however, and the set would remain close until about midway through when TU held a 13-11 lead. Three-straight kills by Kyndall Hellyer sparked six unanswered points for the Dragons as part of a 12-3 run to close the set.
The Rock took another early lead in set three, going up 5-2 after a kill from Abigail Koeller. Tiffin quickly put an end to any hopes of a Slippery Rock comeback, however, as the Dragons scored the next nine points to take an 11-5 lead. In that run, Jenna Huffman had three aces and Schreiber a pair of kills. The run grew to 19-4 at one point when Tiffin went up 21-9, and the Dragons cruised to a 25-15 set win and their third-straight sweep.
Conference play resumes this weekend for Tiffin, and it comes with two of the biggest GMAC contests of the year as the Dragons will host AVCA No. 17 Hillsdale on Friday night before rival Findlay comes to town on Saturday afternoon.