Written Oct. 31, 2009 by Ryan Catanese
WESTERVILLE, OHIO – Otterbein closed out the regular season Saturday with a win over Muskingum on senior day in the Rike Center. The win was Otterbein’s fourth straight in Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) play which improves their record to 23-8 overall and 5-4 in the OAC.
This marks the first time the Cardinals have had a winning record in conference play since 2006.
The two teams traded games throughout the match. Otterbein got off to a solid start winning the first game by a score of 25-20, Muskingum took the next game 25-27, then the Cardinals responded by breezing through the third game by a score of 25-13, the Muskies once again answered by taking the fourth game 25-22, but the Cardinals regrouped and took the deciding game 15-7.
The strong finish to the season puts Otterbein in a tie for fourth with Capital in the OAC, since the Cardinals beat the Crusaders last Saturday they will host Capital in the first round of the OAC tournament.
Freshman middle hitter Ally Nagle once again led the team in kills with 15 and had a hitting percentage of .375. Sophomore outside hitter Alicia Chafins tallied 12 kills and senior middle blocker Leah Yoder had 10 kills on her senior day to go along with an outstanding hitting percentage of .667.
Senior setter Marinda Roderick racked up 28 assists, while freshman Lydia Wynkoop had 29 assists.
Sophomore libero Lindsey Russell, the conference's leader in digs, set an Otterbein match record by recording 45 digs on the day.
Muskingum dropped to 11-14 and 3-6 in the OAC with the loss.
The Cardinals return home on Tuesday November 3rd to host an OAC Tournament Quarterfinal match against Capital. Match is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. in the Rike Center.
