HCAC VOLLEYBALL TOURNAMENT PAIRINGS
TERRE HAUTE, Ind. -- Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology celebrated volleyball Senior Day with a three-set win over Defiance College, securing a first-round bye in next weekend's Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference Tournament.
Rose-Hulman defeated the visiting Yellow Jackets 25-15, 25-23, 25-14 to finish the regular season 19-11 overall and 7-2 in HCAC play. The Fightin' Engineers finished in a three-way tie for second-place with Transylvania and Bluffton, but earned the No. 2 seed in next week's six-team event by virtue of point percentage over the nine conference matchups.
Rose-Hulman will face either Transylvania on Saturday Nov. 4 at 5 p.m. in the HCAC Semifinal Round at Hanover. The championship match is scheduled for 1 p.m. on Sunday Nov. 5. The other semifinal on Nov. 4 features No. 1 seeded Hanover against No. 4 seeded Bluffton.
On Senior Day, Rose-Hulman recognized the accomplishments of Mackenzie Gossard, Becca Poppel, Gabi Razma and Alison Rogozinski, then relied on all four players to help earn the victory. Gossard recorded nine kills and one block assist. Poppel had nine digs and one assist. Razma recorded a team-high 25 digs, three assists and two service aces. Rogozinski pitched in 12 assists, a team-high three service aces and five digs.
Other key contributors in the victory inlcuded Bailey MacInnis with a team-high 11 kills; Katie Orbeta with 16 assists, 10 digs and six kills; Grace Beach with nine kills; and Katryna Dahlberg with 10 digs.
Emma Seitz led the Defiance offense with seven kills. Abigail Cronin contributed 11 assists and 10 digs for the Yellow Jackets.
With the victory, Rose-Hulman secured its highest conference tournament seeding in program history with the No. 2 seed. The Fightin' Engineers also secured a first-round bye in a league tournament for the first time in program history. Rose-Hulman seeks its second HCAC Tournament crown and NCAA Tournament trip next weekend, hoping to join the 2011 squad.
