The Tiffin University volleyball team (8-4, 3-1 G-MAC) played their first match at the Gillmor Center Saturday afternoon and earned a big win against Findlay (28-26, 19-25, 25-22, 19-25, 15-12). Senior defensive specialist Diana Heitkamp surpassed 1,000 career digs in today's match as well.  

The two teams traded runs in set one. Tied at nine, the Dragons won three straight for an 11-9 lead and Findlay answered by winning six of the next seven to take a 16-13 lead. Back-to-back kills by Taylor Peterson and Olivia Karhoff plus a block by Kenedi Goon gave TU the lead back, 20-19. A service ace by Ashlyn Jones set the Dragons up for set point but the visiting Oilers fought back once again and held a 25-24 advantage. Trailing 26-25, the Dragons rallied to win the final three to take set one as Paterson and Katelyn Owens recorded back-to-back kills and then Karhoff and Owens teamed up on a block to end the extended first set.  

Set two featured six lead changes early on with both teams holding a small advantage. The Dragons tied it at 10 and 11 as Hannah Miller committed two attack errors but Findlay would have the advantage for the rest of the set. Following Miller's attack error, the Oilers won six of the next eight to take a 17-13 lead. Overall, the Oilers took seven of the final 11 points to even the match at one set apiece. A kill by Kaylee Freund made the score 24-19, but Findlay won the next point on a kill by Stephanie Smith.  

TU got off to a quick 6-3 start in the third set, but it was the Oilers who quickly turned that deficit into the lead. TU led 13-12 after a kill from Findlay's Hannah Miller and the Dragons responded in a big way by controlling the remainder of the set. Leading by one, TU won the next four that included a kill by Josie Reinhart to extend the lead to 17-12. Findlay got back to within two points two different times, but the Dragons closed the third set on a kill by Goon.  

Findlay led from start to finish in the fourth set to force the deciding fifth. Trailing 13-9, the Dragons won the next three to get back within a point, but Findlay won the next seven to make it 20-12. The Oilers would go on to take the set by a score of 25-19. 

TU got off to an excellent start in the fifth set, winning the first four which forced a timeout by the visitors. Leading 5-4, the Dragons got three kills by Reinhart and a service ace by Jones to make it 10-4. The Oilers would put together a four-point rally late in the set and cut TU's lead to two, 14-12. Following a Dragons timeout, Tiffin ended the match on the next point on a kill by Karhoff.  

Reinhart and Karhoff led the Dragons offensively as they both recorded double digit kills. Addison Conti recorded 25 assists and Maggie Pavlansky added 17.  

Overall, TU had a slightly better overall hitting percentage, .234 compared to Findlay's .230. 

The Dragons continue their homestand on Friday, October 4 when Cedarville visits the Gillmor Center for a 7 p.m. start.