TIFFIN, Ohio - In what was billed as a great matchup between two teams tied for third in the conference, Tiffin volleyball came out swinging and downed Cedarville in straight sets 25-13, 25-20, 25-17.
With the win, the Dragons improve to 6-1 in GMAC play and 12-11 overall on the year, while the Yellow Jackets fall to 5-2 in the conference and 13-8 on the year. Tiffin takes over sole possession of third place in the conference standings, trailing just Hillsdale and Walsh, who are both undefeated in GMAC action on the year.
Tiffin never trailed throughout the match, and were only tied for one point during the second set when it was 1-1. As a team, TU hit .265 with 40 kills and 10 errors, while Cedarville struggled mightily on the attack, hitting just .051 with nearly as many errors as kills (24 e, 30 k). The Dragons also had five aces on the night.
As per usual, Jenna Huffman led Tiffin in kills with 16, hitting .342 and adding nine digs and three blocks. What made the night special, however, is that Huffman became just the second player in Tiffin volleyball history to reach 1,500 career kills, doing so with her fourth kill of the first set.
Speaking of kills, Sam Fallis also got in the attacking action with a career-high two from the libero position while leading the team with 18 digs and two aces. Loryn Huffman dished out 32 assists, and Alicia Kessler had an extremely efficient night with 11 kills and no errors on 15 attempts for a .733 attack percentage.
The Dragons jumped on the Yellow Jackets from the get-go, taking a 6-0 lead early in the first set before adding an 11-3 run in the middle to go up 20-8. Tiffin was able to cruise from there, as a Jenna Huffman kill finished the set at 25-13.
Set two started with that only tie of the match at 1-1, but Tiffin responded with the next three points and seven of the next nine to go up 8-3. Cedarville made it a game, though, cutting the deficit to two on multiple occasions, the last of which came at 21-19. Tiffin snuffed out any notion of a Cedarville comeback, though, tallying four of the next five points to win 25-20.
Seeking the sweep, the Dragons raced out to another big early lead in the third set, scoring five unanswered before going on a 12-3 run to open the frame. Cedarville battled back a little, but they could not stop the Tiffin attack as kills by Grace Schreiber and Alicia Kessler ended the set at 25-17 and the match 3-0.
With just the one game this week, TU now has a week to prepare for their next opponent as they travel to Ohio Dominican next Friday night at 7:00 p.m.
