Box Score

BEREA, Ohio – The Otterbein volleyball team remained firmly in the hunt for an Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) regular-season title Saturday afternoon, emerging with a four-set win at Baldwin Wallace.

The Cardinals fought out from an early deficit, overcoming a first-set loss to win by final counts of 21-25, 25-18, 25-23, 26-24. Otterbein now stands 23-3 on the year and is tied atop the league standings at 6-1.

Baldwin Wallace (25-4, 3-4 OAC) played its way to an early lead, breaking an 8-8 tie to go ahead and never trail the remainder of the first set. Otterbein was as close as 21-19 down the stretch, but two quick points by the Yellow Jackets made the gap enough.

The Cards quickly responded in the ensuing frame, flying out to a whopping 11-0 lead and easing its way to eventually tying the match. Otterbein then came from behind to steal the third set, turning an 18-14 deficit into a locked affair at 20-20. The hosts then took a 22-20 lead before Otterbein closed on a 5-1 run.

Otterbein sealed its victory in the fourth set, another close showdown that saw the Cards ahead 22-16 before Baldwin Wallace rattled off five-straight points. The matchup was then tied at 24-24, but consecutive kills from Alana King-Mendenhall and Emily Shuk would shut the door.

Hadley Sterett had a double-double of 19 kills (match-high) and 11 digs to lead Otterbein, which also got 15 kills from Morgan Lowenkamp in the middle and nine from King-Mendenhall. Setter Andrea Miller also achieved a double-double with 52 assists and 13 digs.

Sophomore libero Ashlyn Leon had 26 digs, including a very timely one a hard BW attack in the closing seconds, to surpass 1,000 for her career. Hillary Sterett also contributed nicely to the back line with 14 digs.

Alicia Lortcher had 16 digs to pace Baldwin Wallace, which committed 10 service errors throughout.

Otterbein will finish out the regular-season with three home matches next week, two being in conference play. The Cards will begin with Marietta before turning their attention to Mount Union, a match that could decide the regular-season race.