Box Score

WESTERVILLE, Ohio – The Otterbein University volleyball team picked up its first Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) win of the fall season Wednesday night, turning back cross-town rival Capital University in straight sets.

The Cardinals, emerging by scores of 25-23, 25-18, 26-24, defeat Capital for a second time this season and improve to 9-7 overall on the season. The group will stay at home to host Alma College on Friday afternoon, 3 p.m., before heading to the Defiance College Tri-Match on Saturday to battle Mount St. Joseph and the host Yellow Jackets.

Capital (4-16, 0-1 OAC) hung tough in the opening set of the night, with the frame seeing ties 15, 16, 17 and 18 before Otterbein leaped to a 23-20 advantage. The Crusaders rattled off three-straight points to draw even, but the Cards countered with consecutive points to take an early advantage.

Otterbein carried that momentum over to set two, breaking open an 11-10 lead with a 10-3 run midway through the set. Capital eventually halted the run with four-straight points, but it wouldn't be enough as the Cards eased into a 2-0 match lead.

The Tan and Cardinal assumed a 10-5 lead to begin the third set after kills from Hannah Adams and Marie Thornton, but the Crusaders wouldn't go away and rallied with a 12-2 scoring spurt, good enough for a 17-12 cushion.

Otterbein stayed the course and slowly chipped away, ultimately tying the set at 22-22, then opening a 24-22 lead before finishing the job a few points later on a service error that just made it over the net.

Morgan Lowenkamp and Maddy Shelley led the Cardinals offensively by combining for 21 kills, with Lowenkamp posting a .421 hitting percentage. Thornton added eight kills and a team-high five block assists.

Lauren Blumberg, match-high 20 assists, teamed with freshman Hannah Adams up front to fill in nicely for injured setter Andrea Miller.  Libero Gracie Staten came up with 11 digs, Shelley had 10 for her double-double effort, and Brenna McNally chipped in nine.

Capital hit just .023 as a team, getting five kills from both Jess Troutwine and Kasey Parkhurst.