Box Score
WESTERVILLE, Ohio – The match for first place in the Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) lived up to its billing Friday evening, as No. 14 ranked University of Mount Union escaped with a five-set win over 12th-ranked Otterbein University.
The Cardinals (20-7, 6-1 OAC) fought back to erase a two-set deficit, but ultimately fell by scores of 17-25, 21-25, 25-16, 25-20, 8-15.
Mount Union, now 20-5 overall and a perfect 7-0 in league play, sits in the driver’s seat to capture the OAC regular season championship with just a week remaining.
The Purple Raiders were clicking on nearly all cylinders to open the match, causing problems for Otterbein outside hitters Kristen Bennett and Annie Juenger to grab the first two frames.
Otterbein found its stride behind the hot hitting of middle’s Liz Palmer and Kim Barker, with Bennett ultimately finding a groove as well to help the team take the third and fourth sets.
Mount held an 8-5 lead at the midway point of the fifth and decisive set, and kept the momentum by opening a 13-6 lead.
The Cardinals stayed alive momentarily behind back-to-back kills from Bennett, but Mount would eventually survive.
“It was a match of momentum swings, and the momentum fell away from us in set five,” Otterbein head coach Monica McDonald said. “That final set is played to 15, so it gets difficult to catch up. It could have been a different result or a lot closer had it gone to 25 points.”
Both teams played solid defensively throughout the match, with Mount Union hitting .155 while the Cards posted a .119 percentage. Each side featured four players with double-digit digs, led by 28 from Otterbein’s Emily Caldwell and 23 from Purple Raider senior Kristen Gromes.
Palmer and Mount Union’s Nicole Snyder each finished with a match-high 15 kills, while Bennett and Barker tallied 13 and 12, respectively. Mount’s Taylor Webb also reach double-digits offensively, tallying 11 kills on 28 attempts.
Otterbein setter Tabatha Piper handed out a match-high 44 assists, with counterpart Kristen Kayser recording 22 for the visitors.
“We had a game plan that we weren’t necessarily executing in the first two sets,” McDonald explained, “It was more about being patient than always going for the score early. I think we later took what the defense gave us in those middle sets and waited for the chance to strike, but we didn’t pass well in game five... and it’s tough to win like that.”
Otterbein has three matches next week to conclude the regular season, beginning with a non-conference outing against Denison University on Monday at 7 p.m. Bennett and fellow senior Michelle Gernert will be recognized prior to starting time as part of Senior Night.
