Box Score
ADA, OHIO - Ottterbein volleyball (18-4, 4-1 OAC) came up big to defeat 22nd-ranked Ohio Northern (13-10, 3-1 OAC) Tuesday evening in four games, giving the program its first win ever against the Polar Bears.
The victory, which came by scores of 25-22, 19-25, 25-18, 25-19, marks the first ever in 45 matches, with Northern now leading the all-time series 44-1.
Otterbein attempted to quiet the crowd early, jumping out to an 11-7 lead after a service ace by Lydia Wynkoop.
ONU pulled to within 20-18, but the Cards responded to widen the margin to 24-19. A block from Kelly Montgomery a few points later would allow the Cards to take game one 25-22.
Montgomery and sophomore Ally Nagle each had three kills in the opening game while junior libero Lindsey Russell had eight digs.
Otterbein grabbed an early 4-2 lead in game two, but the Polar Bears quickly responded to take a slim 6-5 advantage. The Cards later tied the game at 10-10, but the hosts took ten of the next 14 points to climb on top, 20-14, and eventually win game two 25-19.
The third game saw a tie at 9-9 before Otterbein clawed ahead at 14-11. The Cards then took a 15-12 lead by winning a long rally point, capped by a block from senior Rayna Coleman.
Northern would use two timeouts to try and halt the Cardinal surge, but Otterbein used their momentum to extend the lead and play to a 25-18 victory in game three.
Refusing to let up, the Cardinals stormed to an 8-3 lead in game four, prompting Northern to call a timeout. An Otterbein service ace out of the timeout kept the momentum going, and ONU was forced to call another timeout after going down 15-8.
ONU was able to temporarily halt the Cardinal tempo by winning the first three points out of the timeout, but Otterbein stayed poised and took a 21-16 advantage after a kill from sophomore Kristen Bennett.
The Cards would hang on to take game four 25-19, with Nagle burying home the final kill, en route to the emotional victory.
"This was a big win for our program, but I don't know if it was necessarily a huge surprise to us," said fourth-year Head Coach Monica McDonald. "I think we all knew we could come in and play well, and it was just a matter of going out on the court and proving it."
"This is exciting, but we have some tough tests ahead," McDonald continued. "I'm eager to see where we'll go from here."
Nagle and Montgomery combined for 26 of the team's 55 kills, while Russell came up with an impressive 31 digs.
Wynkoop and fellow sophomore setter Lizzy Flynn dished out 25 and 24 assists, respectively.
The team returns home to host a tri-match with cross-town rival Capital and then Manchester (IN) on Saturday afternoon.
