RICHMOND, Ind. – The Earlham College volleyball team secured a spot in the HCAC tournament with a straight-set win over Berea College on Wednesday evening in Druley Performance Gym. 

Caylee Brandes scored 15 kills with no errors and a .484 attack percentage with seven blocks. Ava Walters dished out 18 assists, and served three aces. Sydney Bleyle had 12 assists. Madison Bizjak led the back line with 17 digs and two aces. Lauren Newcomer led the team in aces with four, and collected eight digs. 

As a team, the Quakers attacked at a .366 clip, and scored 12 blocks and 10 aces. 

Earlham took a 5-2 lead early in the first frame, and went on a 9-0 run, including three straight aces from Walters to lead 20-6. The Mountaineers responded with a pair of points, but Earlham ended the set on a 5-1 run. The Quakers did not commit an attack error in the set. 

Earlham scored 14 kills with three errors in the second frame, and held the Mountaineers to .059 attacking. The Quakers had three 3-0 runs in the frame, and outscored Berea 4-1 after leading 21-18. 

Earlham went on a 5-0 run early in set three, but Berea responded with a 4-1 run, and tied the set at six. Earlham scored four straight before a Berea run gave the guests a 14-13 lead. The Quakers then scored five straight points to lead 18-14. The teams traded 3-0 runs, and Maliyah Buford ended the match on a kill from Bleyle. 

The Quakers host Anderson University on Saturday in Druley Performance Gym at 1 pm. Senior day festivities will precede the match.