Box Score

WESTERVILLE, Ohio – Otterbein University, seeded second, cruised to a three-set victory over No. 7 seed Capital University in the opening round of the Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) Tournament Wednesday evening.

The 12th-ranked Cardinals move to 24-7 overall with the victory, and advance to play third-seed Ohio Northern University Friday evening in Alliance, Ohio. Starting time is set for 5 p.m.

OAC regular-season champion and 10th-ranked University of Mount Union will host the semifinal and championship matches, scheduled for Friday evening and Saturday afternoon.

Capital jumped ahead early in the opening, but the Crads stayed close before the first set became locked at 15-15. Otterbein took control, winning 10 of the last 13 points to take the first, 25-18.

The Cardinals cruised to a 25-11 victory in set two, and rode senior right-side Kristen Bennett’s 10 kills in set three for another easy victory at 25-11.

Bennett finished the match with 16 kills, and two errors, on 27 attempts for an impressive .519 hitting mark, while Michelle Gernert and Liz Palmer each contributed eight kills.

Setter Tabatha Piper recorded an all-around effort with 33 assists, five digs, four kills, and three service aces. Junior libero Emily Caldwell had a match-best 13 digs.

Otterbein hit .329 for the match and shut down the Crusaders defensively by limiting the Purple and White to just a .014 hitting percentage for the match.

Marissa Price and Melissa Verhoff each tallied four kills to lead Capital while Shannon Quinn, the NCAA Division III leader in digs, finished with 10. Quinn also had four reception errors.

Otterbein defeated Ohio Northern in three sets earlier this season at the Rike Center, winning by counts of 25-15, 25-18, 25-23. Follow the match with ONU on live stats by clicking here or accessing the team’s schedule page.