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WESTERVILLE, Ohio – The Otterbein University volleyball team came up short in non-conference action Thursday evening, falling to 26-1 Mount Vernon Nazarene, in four sets, inside the Rike Center.

The Cougars, receiving votes the past few weeks in the NAIA national rankings, continue their impressive season while the Cardinals fall to 11-15 overall. Mount Vernon's only loss has come to nationally-ranked Indiana Wesleyan.

Otterbein, falling to the Cougars by scores of 18-25, 25-23, 10-25, 17-25, will be back in Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) action Saturday afternoon, 1 p.m., up at Baldwin Wallace.

Both teams felt one another out early one, with Mount Vernon breaking open an 11-9 set by going on a 9-2 run.

The Cougars had a 14-9 advantage in the second set, but Otterbein remained close and continued to chip away. MVNU later had a 22-20 lead, but the Cards won five of the next-six points to finish strong and even the match.

Mount Vernon won a lop-sided third game before opening the fourth on an 8-3 spurt. Otterbein won four-straight points, but the visitors responded with a 7-0 run of their own and never looked back.

Senior Maddy Shelley led the Cardinals with 12 kills and a .300 hitting mark on the night, while freshman Olivia Harris contributed nicely off the bench by going for six kills, and no errors, on 15 attempts to hit a solid .400. Setter Andrea Miller had 20 assists and libero Gracie Staten posted 17 digs.

Mount Vernon was led by a game-high 16 kills from Kristen Osborn while Grace Tucker added 12 of her own. Alyson Near had nine for a Mount Vernon squad that hit .284 for the evening.