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SPRINGFIELD, Ohio – The Otterbein University volleyball team was dealt three losses over the weekend at the highly competitive Wittenberg Fall Classic, falling to a trio of top-10 opponents.

The Cardinals (4-7) were bounced in three sets to begin the action Friday evening, falling to fifth-ranked and 2013 national runner-up California Lutheran University by scores of 14-25, 12-25, 13-25.

Otterbein was much more competitive on day two, battling 10th-ranked Washington University (St. Louis) over four sets before losing 21-25, 28-30, 25-21, 20-25. The Cards nearly evened the match at 1-1 early on, holding a 24-19 advantage in the second set before the Bears fought off five-straight set points and eventually gained a 25-24 edge. Both sides traded points until Washington escaped with the 30-28 win.

 

The Cardinals responded with a nice third-set victory, highlighted by a 10-1 run midway through the set that turned a 9-7 deficit into a 17-10 lead. The Bears ultimately prevailed, breaking open a 17-17 tie in the fourth by closing the game on a mini 8-3 run.

Senior Kim Barker hit a solid .480 in the contest, ripping off a match-best 14 kills to go along with five blocks assists, five digs and one solo block. Freshman Megan Volosin posted a season-best 11 kills while classmate Morgan Lowenkamp and senior Kendel Kellogg had nine and eight, respectively. Senior libero Evelyn Carus came up with 22 digs in the back.

Otterbein went toe-to-toe with top-ranked, and defending national champion, Calvin College to close out the weekend, falling in four close games by counts of 21-25, 25-23, 23-25, 22-25.

Barker, 13 kills, and Volosin, 12 kills, led Otterbein again offensively, with Barker posting a .500 hitting mark after committing just two errors on 22 total attempts. Volosin, who was selected to the All-Tournament Team, notched a double-double after also coming up with 11 digs. Carus registered a match-best 23 digs and setters Kayla Radekin and Lauren Blumberg combined for 39 assists.

Calvin was led by first team All-American Maggie Kamp, who blasted 22 kills, and committed six errors, over 46 attempts.

Otterbein opens Ohio Athletic Conference play Tuesday evening, traveling to Tiffin for a 7 p.m. start at Heidelberg University.