Game Day Photos
Box Score
TIFFIN, OHIO – The Otterbein University women’s volleyball team, seeded second, fell to No. 3 seed University of Mount Union in four sets Friday evening in the semifinals of the Ohio Athletic Conference tournament.
The loss drops Otterbein to 26-5 overall, and the team will now wait for an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament. The NCAA Division III women’s volleyball selection show is set for Monday morning.
Mount Union moves to 23-7 with the win, and will take on the winner of Heidelberg University and Baldwin-Wallace College in the championship match.
The Cardinals bounced back from a slow start early in the first set and closed to within 8-7, but the Purple Raiders responded with an 8-3 run to take a 16-10 advantage, prompting an Otterbein timeout.
Otterbein tallied five of the next six points to trail 17-15, and would later win three-straight points to even the first set at 22-22.
The Cards fought off three set points to see ties of 24-24, 25-25, and 26-26 before Mount Union strung together two points in a row, winning an intense first set 28-26.
Mount hopped out to a 4-0 lead in set two, but Otterbein trailed just 12-10 after a kill up the left side from freshman Kendel Kellogg.
The Cards remained within striking distance, trailing just 20-18 after a kill from junior Ally Nagle. However, Mount would find a way to hold on yet again and take set two 25-21.
Otterbein fell behind yet again in set three, but continued to battle and eventually pulled ahead at 10-9 after a Purple Raider service error.
The Cards would later hold a slim 18-17 lead before rattling off eight-straight points, winning 25-17 and forcing a fourth set.
The fourth set saw an early 4-4 tie and remained close going forward, with Otterbein pulling ahead at 14-13 after a thunderous kill from junior Kristen Bennett. The scoreboard would have both teams even at 16-16, 19-19, and 21-21 before Mount Union pulled away for a 25-22 victory.
Nagle surpassed 1,000 career-kills in the match, finishing with a match-best 18 despite being pressed at the net by the Mount defense for the majority of the night. Bennett ended with 13 kills while freshman setter Tabatha Piper dished out 41 assists.
Five Cardinals tallied double-digit digs, with senior Lindsey Russell’s 20 leading the way. Both teams hit under .190 for the match.
