Box Score

ADA, Ohio – The Otterbein volleyball team saw its 2015 season come to a close Thursday evening, falling at No. 2 seed Ohio Northern in the semifinals of the Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) Tournament.

The Cardinals, seeded sixth in the eight-team bracket, lost a hard-fought matchup by scores of 11-25, 22-25, 25-23, 19-25 to end their fall campaign at 14-18 overall. Otterbein had prolonged its season with a straight-set win at third-seeded Baldwin Wallace University on Tuesday.

Ohio Northern, ranked No. 25 in the latest AVCA national poll, improves to 24-5 and advances to play either regular-season champion Heidelberg or No. 4-seed John Carroll in Saturday's title match.

Otterbein won the first two points of the night and only trailed 7-5 after an Ohio Northern service error, but the Polar Bears settled in to go on a 13-4 run, opening a 20-9 lead and eventually grabbing a 1-0 match lead.

The Cards found a groove early in the second frame, winning three-straight points behind the serve of Andrea Miller to open an 11-7 lead and force a Polar Bear timeout. Otterbein maintained the lead as the set progressed, later taking a 19-15 advantage to force another ONU timeout.

Ohio Northern rallied out of the timeout, blitzing the Cardinals for a 9-1 run to open a 24-20 cushion. The Cards fought off two match points, but an ensuing service error would help give ONU a 2-0 lead in the contest.

Both sides traded points early in the third game, which saw seven different ties until Otterbein opened a 19-14 lead behind the right arm of sophomore Morgan Lowenkamp. ONU responded once again, using an 8-3 run after a timeout to bring things even at 22-22. The Cards survived the rally, finding themselves on the right side of a close call at the net and then using a service ace from Gracie Staten to force a fourth game.

Otterbein grabbed an 11-7 lead in the fourth before the Polar Bears countered, putting together an 8-2 spurt and jumping on top, 15-13. The Cards would draw even, at 17-17, after consecutive kills from Lowenkamp and classmate Marie Thornton, but ONU won the next four points and ultimately emerged victorious.

Lowenkamp led all players with a new career-high 19 kills, hitting .248 across 41 total attempts. Thornton was second-best among hitters in the match, blasting 13 kills and finishing with a .308 percentage.

Freshman Andrea Miller saved one of her best outings for last this season, handing out a new season-high of 47 assists while also tallying seven digs. Libero Gracie Staten had 25 digs on the back line while classmate Maddy Shelley just missed a double-double with 10 digs and nine kills.

Northern, playing without its starting libero, hit .288 in the match as a team and had four players with seven or more kills. Setter Ashley Borchers nearly matched her counterpart with 45 assists for the home squad.

The contest marked the final college match for Staten, Shelley, Kelsie Gessner and Kasey White, who contributed to more than 80 wins in their careers for Otterbein.