Oilers Blank William Jewell in Final Match of GLIAC/GLVC Crossover
October 26th was a good day in Aurora, Illinois for the University of Findlay volleyball team as they completed their participation in the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference/Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLIAC/GLVC) Crossover with a dominating 3-0 (25-20, 25-12, 25-20) victory versus an overmatched William Jewell College squad.
The win pushed the Oilers record to 14-9 on the year and 2-1 on the weekend. At last check the GLIAC and GLVC were tied 17-17 in the conferential dual.
In the three set match, Findlay only trailed the Cardinals once as they fell behind 2-1 to begin the first set. That lead was short lived for WJC as consecutive kills by junior Samantha Granger, who finished with three kills and 11 digs, and senior Danielle Taflinger pushed the Oilers ahead, and they never looked back.
Taflinger led the offense for Findlay by smashing 11 kills at a .526 clip, a category at which she excels. The middle blocker is currently second in the GLIAC with a .314 hitting percentage for the year.
Co-starring on offense was senior outside hitter Mackenzie Vorst who also had 11 kills and hit .400 for the match. Defensively she had four digs and two blocks, a category in which the Oilers shine as they rank first in the GLIAC in both blocks and blocks per set and are 26th in the nation in blocks per set.
Freshman Hannah Tong played another solid match as she collected eight kills.
Sophomore Julie Lyons and junior Amanda Calhoun have been playing well on both sides of the ball lately. Lyons amassed seven kills and two blocks for the Oilers while Calhoun, fresh off a near triple-double, gathered five kills, 37 assists, four digs, and two aces.
Sophomore Becca Shoemaker was on-point with her service game as she cut apart the Cardinals defense with four aces.
The defensive key for Findlay was senior Brittany Hall. The Harrison, Ohio native was quick to react to any WJC attack and she picked up 12 digs in the route.
The Oilers return to Croy Gymnasium and GLIAC play as they host Route 224 rival Tiffin University on Friday, November 1 at 7:30pm. The Dragons enter the contest with an 11-9 record (2-9 in conference play) and look to begin a late season climb from the GLIAC South basement.