TERRE HAUTE, Ind. -- Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology clinched a bid to the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference Volleyball Tournament with a 25-19, 25-18, 25-20 win over Anderson University on Wednesday night at Hulbert Arena.
The Fightin' Engineers will compete in the opening round of the tournament on Nov. 2 at a site to be determined. The winner of Saturday's matchup between Rose-Hulman and Transylvania will secure a first round home game for next week's event.
Prior to the match, Rose-Hulman honored seniors Melinda Buckrop and Emily McLendon prior to their final weeknight regular season home match as Fightin' Engineers. Buckrop has 88 kills in 52 matches at Rose-Hulman, while McLendon is the career school record holder with 274 block assists and has appeared in 109 matches.
Sophomore Julia Hammond led the Rose-Hulman offense with 11 kills, and sophomore Bailey MacInnis reached double figures with 10. Freshman Katie Orbeta had a team-high 24 assists, and sophomore Marissa Gollnick contributed 11 assists, seven kills and two service aces.
Defensively, junior Gabi Razma had 13 digs and MacInnis recorded a double-double with 10 digs. McLendon had a match high four total blocks, including three block assists, to go with six kills.
Rose-Hulman improved to 13-16 and 5-3 in conference play, while Anderson stands 8-18 and 2-7 in league matches. The Fightin' Engineers will honor the 20th Anniversary of Rose-Hulman Volleyball prior to Saturday's regular season finale at Hulbert Arena on Saturday at 3 p.m. against Transylvania.
