MEMPHIS, Tenn. - Sophomore Tiffany Buchinger had 77 assists (11 per set) as the Tiffin University volleyball team (2-2) won twice at the Christian Brothers Invitational Saturday. The Dragons beat West Georgia (1-3) 3-1 (25-23, 20-25, 25-20, 25-20) and Ouachita Baptist (0-4) 3-0 (25-21, 25-14, 25-20).
Against West Georgia, the opening set had runs early. Tiffin scored the first four points to take the early lead. The Wolves came back with a 7-3 run. Emily Reul's kill made it 7-7.
From that point, the teams traded points until 19-19. Senior Maureen Kurtz got a kill and then served up three points, including two service aces. That put the Dragons up 23-19. UWG closed the margin to 24-23. Senior Danielle McQuade put the ball away to end the set.
In the second set, it was another back-and-forth battle. Senior Maggie Betz bounced the ball off the block to make it 20-18, West Georgia. The Wolves scored two straight points and were never headed.
In the third set, TU appeared to have things in hand with an 18-13 lead. UWG dug deep and responded with a 5-2 spurt. Kendall Williams recorded a kill to make it 20-18. Junior Bridget Boyle and Kurtz notched kills to seal the game.
In the fourth set, neither team was able to put the other one away. Tiffin took a 19-16 lead but West Georgia scored two points to cut the gap to one. The Dragons forced two errors and picked up a kill to effectively end the match.
McQuade had 14 kills and 17 digs for her third straight double-double of the season. Buchinger had 43 assists along with eight kills and no errors in 14 attempts. Sophomore Rachel Reamer had 16 digs while Kurtz had 12 digs and four service aces.
For West Georgia, Reul had 26 kills, 13 digs and hit .311 while Lesley Bemis had 16 kills. Amanda Miller had 53 assists and Melissa Holt had 20 digs.
Against Ouachita Baptist in the first set, the team jousted early. At 14-14, Tiffin made a move to put the game out of reach. The Dragons went on a 6-2 run to make it 20-16. The Tigers came back with two points to make it 20-18.
TU went up four, then two, up three and back to two. Finally at 23-21, Tiffin took charge. Kurtz and McQuade delivered spikes to end the first set.
In the second set, the squads battled early. OBU got a kill from Megan Askew to make it 3-2, Dragons. TU scored seven straight points to put the game out of reach.
In the third set, it was a back-and-forth battle most of the way. Abby Pickett found the back corner to give Ouachita Baptist a 16-15 lead. Tiffin scored four straight points to effectively end the set.
Kurtz led the attack with 11 kills and 11 digs while Buchinger had 34 assists. Reamer had 14 digs and three service aces.
For Ouachita Baptist, Abby Pickett had nine kills and Allison Frizzell had 14 digs.
Tiffin opens the home season, Tuesday, Sept. 4 against Ursuline. The match is scheduled to start at 7:00 p.m. Live stats will be available at http://livestats.prestosports.com/tiffin/
-TIFFIN UNIVERSITY-
