Box Score

WESTERVILLE, Ohio – The Otterbein University volleyball team strung together a come-from-behind victory Friday evening in the Rike Center, rallying from a 2-1 deficit to top Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology in a five-set affair.

The Cardinals, winning by overall scores of 18-25, 25-16, 22-25, 25-19, 15-6, improve to 12-7 on the season and will take on Muskingum University and Thomas More College Saturday afternoon as part of hosting a day-long quad match. Start time against the Muskies, which will be a conference match, is set for 11 a.m.

Rose Hulman (9-11) led the entire first set, winning the first-four points and not looking back to settle into an early lead. Otterbein answered right back in the second, using a 9-1 scoring run midway through the frame to seize a 20-11 cushion en route to tying the contest.

The Cardinals let the third set slip away, leading 20-17 down the stretch after a kill from junior Marie Thornton before the Fightin' Engineers rallied with five unanswered and ultimately prevailed.
Otterbein kicked right back into gear as the fourth set progressed, opening an early 9-3 cushion until RHIT eventually forced ties at 15, 16, 17 and 18. The Tan and Cardinal emerged in the critical points, out-scoring Rose-Hulman 7-1 to finish off the set.

The Cards left little doubt in the fifth and deciding game, catching fire behind the serve of sophomore Kalyn Schroer to break open a 6-4 score and post the exciting win.

Junior Morgan Lowenkamp was impressive throughout for the Cards, hitting .343 on a match-best 14 kills and also getting in on seven blocks (two solo, five assisted). Thornton complimented her classmate nicely with 11 kills while sophomore Olivia Harris flirted with a double-double at nine kills and nine digs.

Setter Andrea Miller dished out 43 helpers, her fifth match in the last seven outings with 35 or more assists, while libero Ashlyn Leon led the defense with 25 digs. Senior Brenna McNally, 16, and Schroer, 14, tallied season-best dig totals as the Cardinals defense forced RHIT into hitting less than .100 in each of the last-four sets.

Otterbein had nine service aces, just seven errors, and hit .133 as a group. The Engineers were paced by 12 kills from both Julia Hammond and Bailey MacInnis.