Claire Heitkamp drills season-high 16 kills to lead Volleyball to sweep of Defiance

By Tim Glon

ADA — Sophomore Claire Heitkamp had a season-high 16 kills and hit an impressive .640 to lead Ohio Northern to a 25-18, 25-12, 25-16 victory over Defiance in volleyball action Tuesday night at the ONU Sports Center.

The Polar Bears (12-6 overall) hit .319 as a team with 49 kills and just 11 errors in 119 attempts.

Freshman Hannah Davis added 10 kills and had four blocks and sophomore Ashley Borchers dished out 39 assists.

The Yellow Jackets (9-10 overall) were led by Bree Anderson with 10 kills. DC finished the match hitting just .100 with 29 kills and 18 errors on 110 attempts.

The Polar Bears featured a balanced offensive attack, as five players had 20 or more attempts and none had more than Davis' 26.

Northern started slowly as Defiance jumped to a quick 7-2 lead in Set 1.

After an ONU timeout, the Polar Bears rattled off seven straight points to take a 9-8 lead.

Later in the set, a 7-1 run put ONU in control 17-12.

Heitkamp finished the first set with six kills and a .667 hitting percentage.

In Set 2, Northern was in control throughout, racing to a 9-2 lead. Leading 15-11, ONU ended the set on a 10-1 run to win 25-12.

The Polar Bears again started quickly in Set 3, leading 5-1 and 9-3 before cruising to the sweep.

Ohio Northern will start Ohio Athletic Conference play on Saturday with a 1 pm contest at John Carroll.