SPRINGFIELD, Ohio - The Capital volleyball team took part in two non-conference matches on Saturday at Wittenberg University. The Crusaders beat Hiram, 3-2 (18-25, 23-25, 25-21, 25-21, 15-10) before falling to #5 Wittenberg, 3-0 (25-14, 27-25, 25-20).
Capital, which is now 24-6 overall on the season, used a balanced attack to comeback from down 0-2 in the match to defeat Hiram in its first action of the day. Four different Crusaders tallied eight or more kills led by a double-double from senior Jackie Helm (Lancaster, Ohio/Fisher Catholic HS). Helm hit .341 to finish with 19 kills, 18 digs, four blocks and one service ace to pace Capital.
Junior Allison Hostetler (Dalton, Ohio/Dalton HS) tallied 12 kills while hitting at a .357 clip to go along with seven blocks. Senior Kelly Steineman (New Bremen, Ohio/New Bremen HS) and junior Jennifer Fekpe (Hilliard, Ohio/Hillard Davidson HS) added eight kills each to support and offense that was controlled by the setting duo of Jenna Zumberger (DeGraff, Ohio/Fairlawn HS) and Kara Guster (Orrville, Ohio/Orrville HS). Zumberger had 29 assists and 13 digs while Guster followed with 26 assists and 13 digs of her own.
Junior libero Sara Doebel (Clyde, Ohio/Clyde HS) led the Crusader defense with 22 digs while classmate Laura Wichman (Chardon, Ohio/Chardon HS) tallied five blocks as Capital improved to 3-1 on the season in five-set matches.
The Crusaders put up a valiant effort in an upset bid against #5 Wittenberg in the day's finale. Capital had strong play in the middle of the floor as Steineman and Wichman led the way against the Tigers. Stieneman posted 10 kills and three blocks while Wichman had nine kills and five blocks.
Guster dished out 13 assists to go along with nine digs while Zumberger tallied 19 assists and six digs for the CU defense. Doebel added eight digs, but could not prevent Capital from losing to its third nationally-ranked opponent of the season.
Capital will wrap up its regular season with a pair of home matches against OAC competition this week. CU plays host to Muskingum on Tuesday at 7 p.m. ET and #9 Ohio Northern on Saturday at 1 p.m. ET.