WESTERVILLE, OHIO – Otterbein, the #4 seed, fell to top-seeded and 19th-ranked Heidelberg in four games Friday evening in the semi-finals of the Ohio Athletic Conference Tournament.
After Heidelberg took the first two points of game one, Otterbein responded and took a 6-4 lead on a kill from freshman Courtney Kramer.
The Berg countered by taking 11 of the game’s next 15 points and found themselves holding a 15-10 advantage.
The Cards brought the deficit to 15-12 on back-to-back kills from Leah Yoder and Rayna Coleman, but the Student Princes bounced back to take an 18-13 lead.
Otterbein fought back yet again, drawing to within two, at 20-18 after a cross-court kill from sophomore Alicia Chafins.
After tying the game at 21-21 and forcing Heidelberg to call a timeout, the Cards fell behind 23-21 after Marian Bevington blocked a Cardinal attempt. The Student Princes would carry the momentum to take the first game 25-22.
The Cards had four service errors in the opening game, while Chafins got off to a hot start with 6 kills in 11 attempts.
Game two saw the Berg jump out to a 7-6 lead, only to have Otterbein regain the edge at 9-7 and pursue to push the margin to 13-9 on back-to-back kills from Coleman.
Keeping the pressure on, OC widened the lead to 19-12 after a Heidelberg reception error. Chafins tallied the 24th point with yet another kill, and the Cards held off a late rally from the Berg to earn a 25-22 win in the second game.
OC grabbed an early 5-4 lead in game three after a point from freshman Ally Nagle, the OAC ‘s leader in kills. Heidelberg then countered to take a 14-9 advantage on another kill from Bevington.
The Cardinals hung tough, but the hosts eventually played their way to a 25-18 victory to take a 2-1 lead.
Tied at 6-6 in the fourth, the teams exchanged points and found themselves locked back up again, this time at 9-9.
Even at 12-12, Heidelberg found momentum and took a 20-15 lead after a service ace from Suzy Street.
Otterbein fought hard, but the Student Princes proved too much and played to a 25-15 victory.
With the win, Heidelberg advances to Saturday’s championship match against Ohio Northern.
Coleman led the Cardinal attack by registering 14 kills on 26 total attacks for a hitting percentage of .423. Chafins tallied 12 kills on 43 attempts while senior Leah Yoder added five on 14 chances in her last collegiate game.
Freshman Lydia Wynkoop handed out 23 assists while senior Marinda Roderick, also playing her last college match, recorded 11 assists.
Sophomore libero Lindsey Russell tallied 21 digs on the evening.
Picked to finish ninth in the conference preseason poll, the Cards instead went 5-4 in the OAC and played to a 24-9 overall record, the best in program history.
