Over the course of the rest of the spring and the summer months, one Tiffin Athletics program will be highlighted every Saturday on their accomplishments during the year. This week's Saturday Spotlight focuses on the women's volleyball program.
With head coach Shauna Hurles in her third season, Tiffin volleyball had one of their best seasons since joining the Division II ranks. Picked third in the GMAC Preseason Poll, Tiffin went 19-13 overall and 10-2 in conference play to finish second during the regular season and was just one win away from their first-ever NCAA Tournament appearance before falling to top-seeded Hillsdale in the GMAC title match. Three Dragons were named All-GMAC, with star senior Jenna Huffman also earning numerous regional and national accolades.
After a 5-6 start against some very tough nonconference competition to open the season, Tiffin found their groove at the beginning of GMAC action. The Dragons won their first four conference games, three via sweep, with Jenna Huffman earning GMAC Offensive Player of the Week honors during the stretch. The run was broken by a loss to Hillsdale, but TU bounced right back on Oct. 12 with a 3-0 sweep of Findlay that was the first win over the Oilers since 2011 and first via sweep since 2010.
From there, the Dragons went on another four-game GMAC win streak while also defeating regional rival Ashland at home. Huffman also received her second GMAC weekly honor following her performance in TU's win over Cedarville. Tiffin finished the regular season with a pair of impressive sweeps over Walsh and Malone, with the Cavaliers and Dragons tied in the conference standings prior to their match. After those wins, TU secured the two-seed in the GMAC postseason, and sophomore libero Sam Fallis was named GMAC Defensive Player of the Week.
Tiffin cruised to 3-1 wins over Findlay and Walsh in the quarterfinals and semifinals of the conference tournament, but was unable to ride a first-set victory in the championship match as they fell 3-1 to Hillsdale to end the season. Jenna Huffman received First Team All-GMAC honors, while Loryn Huffman and Sam Fallis earned Second Team nods.
As mentioned, senior Jenna Huffman finished her decorated career with a plethora of honors. During her historic season, Huffman was also named First Team D2CCA All-American, Third Team AVCA All-American, CoSIDA Academic All-America Second Team and All-District First Team, and First Team AVCA and D2CCA All-Midwest Region. She became the only Tiffin volleyball player ever to compile over 1,500 career kills, 1,000 career digs, and 400 career blocks. She surpassed the digs mark on Oct. 8 against Slippery Rock, and blew past the kills milestone on Oct. 25 against Cedarville. She also set a new TU and GMAC record with 4.76 kills per set during the year, leading the conference and nation in that category and three others - 5.34 points per set, 13.21 attacks per set, and 562 total kills.
As a team, Tiffin finished the year second in the GMAC in kills per set (13.40), assists per set (12.35), and digs per set (18.49). Loryn Huffman was second in the GMAC with 10.55 assists per set, Sam Fallis second with 5.08 digs per set, and Grace Schreiber third with 94 total blocks.