Box Score

ALLIANCE, Ohio – Otterbein University volleyball, seeded second and ranked 12th-nationally, topped Ohio Northern University in four sets (25-20, 22-25, 25-22, 25-19) Friday evening to advance to its first-ever Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) Tournament title match.

The win moves the Cardinals to 25-7 on the season, allowing the team to move on and play for the program’s first OAC championship Saturday, 2 p.m., against host and 10th-ranked University of Mount Union.

Ohio Northern, the tournament’s No. 3 seed, drops to 24-6 with the defeat and will now wait until Monday morning to see if it will land a spot in the NCAA’s.

The two sides traded points back and forth to open play, with a kill from Otterbein junior Annie Juenger tying the first set at 14-14.

The set was later tied at 18-18, but the Cardinals found a groove to win eight of the next 10 points, capped by a kill from senior Kristen Bennett, and take the opener. Liz Palmer paced the Cards with four kills in the first set, while setter Tabatha Piper handed out 10 assists.

Otterbein captured the initial three points of set two, and later sat on top, at 9-4, after a Polar Bear attacking error.

Ohio Northern battled back and the second set eventually saw ties at 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, and 22 before ONU took the last three points.

The third set was close early and later saw the two teams tied at 9-9, but the Cardinals opened an 18-13 lead after a quick kill from Palmer.

ONU fought back and ultimately tied the match at 22-22, but Otterbein weathered the flurry to win the final three points, including blocks assists from Palmer and Juenger and a kill up the middle from freshman Lauren Beitel.

Looking to close the match out, Otterbein vaulted to a 10-4 lead in set four and later held onto an 18-14 lead after an attack error from senior Michelle Gernert.

Gernert redeemed herself with a kill on the very next play, and the Cardinals would ride the momentum to victory.

Juenger finished with Ohio Northern’s Ellen Grenert for a match-high 14 kills. Gernert posted 10 of her own while Bennett and Palmer tallied nine each.

Piper and ONU setter Kelsie Zumber each posted 42 assists over the four sets, while Otterbein libero Emily Caldwell and Polar Bear libero Jeni Kmic each had 22 digs.

Otterbein hit .253 in the match compared to Ohio Northern's .171 mark. The Cardinals controlled the net, recording 11 blocks while ONU had just three.

Mount Union won the regular-season matchup with Otterbein, escaping Westerville on Oct. 19 with a five-set win. Follow Saturday's championship match on live stats or twitter.