Box Score
POST-MATCH PRESS CONFERENCE
PHOTO GALLERY

WESTERVILLE, Ohio – The Otterbein volleyball team delivered a dominant performance Friday evening in the opening round of the NCAA Division III Tournament, flying past Cabrini University by scores of 25-13, 25-15, 25-17 in front an electric Rike Center crowd.

The Cardinals, hosting the Westerville Regional for the first time in school history, opened strong before a record audience of 1,117 and never looked back. As a result, the team now stands 30-3 as it continues to build on a program best for single-season wins.

Otterbein will now face off against newfound conference rival Ohio Northern (28-5) in Saturday's second round at 5 p.m. after the Polar Bears emerged in a wild five-set victory over DePauw. ONU won the fifth set 17-15 after relinquishing a 2-0 match advantage.

Otterbein jumped all over Cabrini (29-7) early, tallying five service aces in the opening set that included an 8-2 scoring run. The offense maintained a consistent pace behind the right arm of junior Hadley Sterett, who finished with a match-high 14 kills as the only player in double figures.

"This is all so exciting," Sterett said afterwards. "It seemed like we just rallied off the crowd and used it with every point. Our setter Andrea Miller and I were clicking and she was feeding me great balls to put away."

The Eagles, playing without starting setter Olivia Blankenbiller after she was injured early in the team's conference championship match, hung close with Otterbein to begin the second and trailed just 14-10. The Cards soon kicked into gear, winning three-straight points and never looking back to double-up the match cushion.

The third set was tied at 7-7 before Otterbein posted a difference-making run, outscoring Cabrini 15-5 over the ensuing 20 points to culminate the evening.

"I was proud of the girls tonight," said head coach Monica Wright, recently named the AVCA Great Lakes Region Coach of the Year. "We do not have one player on this roster with any NCAA experience, yet everyone came out and took care of business. That can be tough to do with big expectations in front of a home crowd, but they tossed whatever nerves they might have had to the side."

Otterbein hit .223 as a team and ripped off 13 service aces from start to finish. Senior Morgan Lowenkamp hit .364 in the middle across a tempered 11 attempts while classmate Marie Thornton had seven kills.

Miller threw around 28 assists and went over 3,000 for her career, becoming the third player in program history to do so. Libero  Ashlyn Leon had 14 digs for the defense while junior Olivia Harris has 11.

"The support that we had tonight was unreal and amazing," Leon added. "It was fun playing behind the momentum of the crowd and I just kept the mindset on digging up everything I could."

In addition to Wright's recent coaching recognition, Lowenkamp, Sterett and Miller were each voted first team all-region on Thursday. Otterbein now holds two NCAA Tournament wins (DePauw, 2013) and will be looking to make the Sweet 16 for the first time ever.

Cabrini was led by a combined 12 kills from Steph Judkins and Anne-Marie Jones. The Eagles hit .043 for the match and got 18 assists from replacement setter Ashley Shannon.

Juniata College and Wittenberg University will battle in the initial second-round matchup on Saturday, slated to begin at 2:30 p.m.

Stay up to date on all information at the WESTERVILLE REGIONAL PAGE.