Box Score

MARIETTA, Ohio – The Otterbein women's volleyball team clinched a spot in the Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) Tournament Tuesday evening, overcoming a slow first set to defeat host Marietta College by scores of 18-25, 27-25, 25-19, 25-14.

The Cardinals, now 16-11 overall and 4-4 in OAC play, are currently positioned sixth in the conference standings and will finish out their league schedule Saturday afternoon at Mount Union. The team will most likely remain in that sixth spot unless it defeats the Purple Raiders this weekend and Baldwin Wallace loses to Capital, which would put Otterbein into the No. 5 seed.

Marietta grabbed momentum early with a nice first-set triumph, but the Cardinals kicked into gear midway through the second frame by overcoming a slight 11-7 deficit and becoming locked in ties at 11, 12, 15, 16, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24 and 25. Otterbein eventually emerged to tie the match following kills from juniors Brett Bey and Morgan Lowenkamp.

The next two frames would be secured by the Cards, who opened a 14-6 lead in the third and traded points down the stretch for a 2-1 match lead. Otterbein finished the job with a one-sided fourth frame, blitzing the Pioneers with an 8-0 run to begin the action and never looking back.

Lowenkamp and classmate Marie Thornton led the offensive effort with 12 kills each while setter Andrea Miller dished out 38 assists. Bey added 11 and Olivia Harris chipped in eight for a Cardinal group that hit .283 as a unit. Miller also finished with 15 digs for a double-double effort.

Freshman libero Ashlyn Leon tallied 20 digs to go over 500 for her inaugural season, the 12th player in program history to do so. Marietta (17-14, 2-6 OAC) hit .151 in the contest, getting 14 kills from Mallory Vodopich and 11 from both Hunter Barnes and Darcy Irish.

Otterbein will also play a 2 p.m. non-conference match against Juniata College (Pa.) following Saturday's contest with Mount Union.