Box Score

OTTERBEIN POST-MATCH PRESS CONFERENCE
ONU POST-MATCH PRESS CONFERENCE

WESTERVILLE, Ohio – The 25th-ranked Otterbein volleyball team suffered a disappointing and somewhat unlucky end to its magical season Saturday night, falling in straight sets to conference rival Ohio Northern in the second round of the NCAA Division III Tournament.

The Cardinals, serving as host in the Rike Center, end their record-setting season at 30-4 overall after falling by scores of 21-25, 23-25 and 15-25. Ohio Northern, ranked 20th in the latest AVCA national poll, improves to 29-5 and will play No. 3 Wittenberg in Sunday's regional final.

Otterbein had defeated Ohio Northern two previous times, notching a five-set road win during the regular-season before a dominant 3-0 victory in last week's OAC Tournament Championship. The third installment had a bit of an unfortunate and last-minute twist for the Cardinals, who were forced to play without the services of standout middle hitter Morgan Lowenkamp.

Lowenkamp, the Ohio Athletic Conference Player of the Year, suffered a head injury during Saturday's morning practice and was not cleared by doctors/athletic trainers in what boiled down to a match-time decision. She ranked sixth nationally in hitting percentage, led the OAC in kills and was voted first team all-region earlier this week.

"It was a tough day," Lowenkamp said afterwards to the media. "I wanted nothing more than to be out there with my team, but I'm so proud of the girls and how they responded to take on the adversity. Freshman Tate Eppard stepped in and gave everything she had."

The Cardinals took the court minutes after officially learning the news, going back and forth with ONU in a tight first set that was eventually tied 17-17. The Polar Bears then strung together four-straight points to find some breathing room and soon take an early match lead.

Both sides traded punches during an even closer second set, which saw six ties that translated to an 18-18 deadlock later on. Northern would find a way to prevail yet again, going up 23-20 and then hanging on for a two-point win.

"It's definitely disappointing," head coach Monica Wright said. "We were never able to get much momentum and Ohio Northern seemed to answer right back whenever we actually did. It just wasn't our night."

ONU pulled away to win the third set comfortably, forcing an Otterbein timeout at 13-6 and ultimately eliminating the Cardinals.

"Life isn't always fair or easy," Lowenkamp added. "There will be other tough things that happen in my future, but I'll look back to this day and remember how to handle hard moments. Part of the reason we were successful this year is because we never let outside noise or problems carry over onto the court. It's important to react the right way during times of turmoil."

Junior Hadley Sterett did all she could in pacing the Cards, hitting a match-high 43 times and registering team-bests of 14 kills and 12 digs. Senior Marie Thornton contributed an admirable 10-1-19 (.368) line in her final college outing.

"The off-time is what made this success happen," Thornton said. "Our work in the summer and throughout the preseason really carried over and made a difference. I hope the effort remains high caliber for years to come in this program."

Setter Andrea Miller, the national leader in assists, also had a double-double in directing traffic with 31 helpers and 11 digs. Libero Ashlyn Leon added 10 digs of her own.

"We remained confident and had the hope of doing whatever we could to advance, and then possibly get Morgan back tomorrow," Wright explained. "Things got a little off-balance defensively and that's the difference I see on the stat sheet. They just had a little more than us."

The Polar Bears hit a whopping .377 as a team, getting a match-high 18 kills from McKenna Jordan on the outside and another 14 from middle hitter Chelsea Huppert. Freshman setter Katie Wade recorded 44 assists.

Ohio Northern and Wittenberg will square off in the Rike Center at 2 p.m. on Sunday afternoon, with the winner earning a spot at next week's NCAA Finals in Grand Rapids, Mich. Those remaining eight teams will play for the 2017 national championship.