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ELMHURST, Ill. – The 18th-ranked Otterbein University volleyball team secured another piece of school history Thursday afternoon, taking down No. 25 DePauw University in straight sets to win the program's first-ever NCAA Tournament match.

Otterbein earned the victory by scores of 25-21, 25-15, 25-23 to improve to 27-7 on the season and advance to Friday's regional semifinal against No. 2-ranked Hope College. The match will be scheduled to begin at 4:30 p.m. central time.

"I couldn't be more proud of these girls right now," Otterbein head coach Monica McDonald said afterwards. "This is a big step for our program and I think our experienced really mattered today. We had the leadership to stay composed throughout the match because DePauw definitely made it difficult at times."

The Cardinals fell behind 8-4 early on in the first, but settled in and took a 10-9 lead after a kill from junior Kendel Kellogg.

The set then saw ties at 10-10, 11-11, 12-12, and 13-13 before Otterbein strung together two quick points. DePauw (26-7) tied the set twice more, but the Cards kicked into gear with five-straight points to open a 21-16 lead and force a Tiger timeout.

DePauw won the next two points out of the timeout, but Otterbein eventually captured the opener after Kellogg buried her seventh kill of first frame.

The Cards took the first-four points of the second set and stayed in control to seize a 14-8 lead, forcing another DePauw timeout. The Tigers again tallied two-straight points out of the break, but it wouldn't be nearly enough as Otterbein got two service aces from sophomore Lauren Beitel down the stretch as part of a 10-3 run to end the set.

The Tigers came out strong on the third, opening a 10-6 lead to force McDonald to use a timeout.

A backwards, left-handed dump attack from setter Tabatha Piper helped give Otterbein some momentum in the third, bringing the team to within 15-13. The play would be part of a 9-2 run to help give the Cards a 21-17 lead.

DePauw battled back to draw even at 21-21, but Otterbein would ultimately regain control to finish the job.

Kellogg and senior outside Annie Juenger were impressive throughout, combining to put down 29 kills for an Otterbein team that hit .252 on the day. Piper controlled the majority of the match up front at the net, handing out 35 assists while also going for 12 digs and four kills.

"Kendel was on fire in that first game, so I kept sending the ball her way and that really established the tempo for the remainder of the match," Piper said. "This team hadn't played us and weren't that familiar with what we did, so I thought our offense worked well and we adjusted accordingly during the match."

Sophomore Gracie Staten performed admirably in the back at libero, coming up with a team-high 17 digs in helping limit the Tigers to just a .167 percentage over the three frames.

"We all just knew that it was our time," Juenger said. "The entire experience felt different today than in the past, and it's always nice to make a bit of history."

The Cards now turn their attention to Hope, which has eliminated Otterbein from the NCAA's each of the last two years. The Flying Dutch defeated Webster University (Mo.) in three sets to open the day.

"I think we're all tired of losing to Hope," Juenger said. "We always talk about this matchup and what a victory against them would mean. We will come ready to play and should have a little extra motivation."