Box Score

WESTERVILLE, Ohio – The Otterbein volleyball team made quick work of visiting Marietta Tuesday night inside the Rike Center, winning by scores of 25-13, 25-23, 25-17 to stay tied atop the Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) standings.

The Cardinals, improving to 24-3 overall and a healthy 7-1 within OAC play, set up a Saturday showdown against Mount Union with at least a share of the regular-season title on the line. The Purple Raiders (23-3, 7-1 OAC) and Ohio Northern (24-4, 7-1 OAC) currently form a three-way tie with Otterbein.

With a win on Saturday, Otterbein would secure the No. 1 seed in next week's postseason tournament by virtue of their head-to-head victory over Ohio Northern.

The Cards wasted no time flying out over the Pioneers, opening an early 10-4 lead after a kill from freshman Emily Shuk and ultimately coasting to an initial advantage.

Otterbein took Marietta's best shot in the second frame, which saw ties at points 12 through 18 before the Cards won three-straight. The Pioneers (11-16, 3-5 OAC) fought back to tie things at 22 and 23 until Otterbein ripped off kills from Bethany Eippert and Morgan Lowenkamp.

Otterbein emerged in a third set that also saw multiple ties throughout, tied at 17-17 before the hosts ended the night on an 8-0 scoring run. Lowenkamp and Hadley Sterett each registered a match-high 11 kills to guide the Cardinal offense, which also received a clean 8-0-15 (.533) line from senior Marie Thornton.

Alana King-Mendenhall added five blocks (three solo) and four kills to complement the effort, with setter Andrea Miller handing out another 38 assists. She now has 1,110 on the year, exactly 300 back from the program's single-season record.

Otterbein hit .276 as a team and limited the Pioneers to a .113 output. Libero Ashlyn Leon had 21 digs, Miller found her way to 11 and Olivia Harris contributed 10.

Darcy Irish had 10 kills to lead Marietta, which remains in a sixth-place tie with Baldwin Wallace amongst the OAC standings.

Otterbein will also take on Ohio Wesleyan later Saturday afternoon as part of a tri-match. The Cards will recognize Lowenkamp, Thornton and fellow senior Brett Bey at the beginning of the day for their contributions to the program.