Box Score

WESTERVILLE, Ohio – The Otterbein University volleyball team suffered a disappointing conclusion to its 2014 season Tuesday evening, falling victim to Capital University's upset bid in the opening round of the Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) Tournament.

The Crusaders, now 12-19 overall and seeded sixth in the eight-team field, took down No. 3-seed Otterbein in straight-sets by scores of 25-18, 25-19, 25-20 to advance to Thursday's semifinal at John Carroll, 3-0 winners over Baldwin Wallace.

Otterbein (16-14) opened an early 11-7 lead in the first set, but Capital responded with a 13-5 run down the stretch to seize a 20-16 advantage. The Crusaders proceeded to win five of the next seven points and take an early lead in the contest.

Capital carried the momentum over to the second frame, regrouping out of a timeout early in the set to break open a 7-6 game and eventually grab an 18-12 lead.

The Purple and White finished off that set for a 2-0 match lead, but Otterbein opened the third frame strong and held a 10-6 edge early on. The Crusaders would slowly chip away as the game saw ties at 12, 13, 14, 15 and 16 before the visitors pulled away down the stretch.

Otterbein managed to hit just .022 on the night against a rugged Capital defense. Senior Kendel Kellogg finished with a match-high 12 kills in her final collegiate outing while freshman Morgan Lowenkamp added eight.

The Crusaders finished with a .188 hitting mark as a team, spreading the ball around evenly as six players finished with between 5-9 kills. Courtney McCracken posted a match-best 19 digs.

The match marked the last for Kellogg and fellow seniors Kim Barker, Evelyn Carus and Kayla Radekin, who helped lead the program to 95 wins throughout the last four years.