RICHMOND, Ind. – The Earlham College volleyball team advanced in the HCAC Tournament with a 3-1 win over Bluffton University in Druley Performance Gym on Wednesday evening. 

Addison Piatt led the Quakers, scoring 16 kills and swinging .467 with just two errors. Piatt also led the squad in digs with 23, and served two aces. Aniyah Harrington scored 13 kills with two aces, two blocks and nine digs. 

Gabby Gerardi tallied four blocks, including the final point of the match in the fourth set. Sydney Bleyle led the setters with 26 assists, and was serving during a 9-0 Quaker run in the third set. Ava Walters dished out 23 assists with one ace. Madison Bizjak, who was named HCAC Co-Defensive Player of the Year earlier today, collected 18 digs. 

Earlham scored 57 kills with seven blocks, six aces and a .255 average as a team, while holding the Beavers to a .092 hitting percentage on 45 kills. 

Trailing 14-12 in the first set, Bluffton strung together a 10-5 run to lead 22-19. The Quakers responded with a 5-0 run to lead 15-22, but Bluffton then scored a 5-1 rally to win the set. 

The Quakers opened set two with a 14-4 lead, including nine straight points with serves from Bleyle. The Quakers scored runs of 5-0 and 4-1 in the set to take a 25-14 win. 

Earlham then scored six straight points to open set three, and took an early lead of 16-5. Bluffton hit negative in both the second and third sets.

In set four, the Quakers led 11-9 before Bluffton went on a 9-3 run to lead 18-14. Trailing 21-17, Earlham went on a 6-1 run for a 23-22 lead. The teams traded points, until Bluffton took a 25-24 lead off of a kill by senior blocker Jenna Woods. Earlham retook the lead with a kill by Charish Minor for a 28-27 score. The teams then went back-and-forth again with the Quakers finally putting together a pair of points for a 31-29 set win and a 3-1 match win. 

The Quakers will host the HCAC Volleyball Championship this weekend in Druley Performance Gym. Earlham will host Hanover College on Saturday at 2 pm, and Mount St. Joseph will play Transylvania at 5 pm. The two winning teams will face off on Sunday in Druley Performance Gym at 1 pm.