Box Score

WESTERVILLE, Ohio – Rivalry weekend for Otterbein University was kicked off in winning fashion Friday night in the Rike Center, with the volleyball team scooting past cross-town Capital by scores of 25-19, 25-21, 25-12.

The straight-set win moves the Cardinals to a strong 16-1 on the season, and 2-0 within Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) play after a five-set win at Muskingum earlier this week. Capital, meanwhile, falls to 8-10 this year.

Capital hung tough early, taking an early 7-5 lead in the first set before the Cards strung together an 11-3 run to open a six-point advantage. The Crusaders trailed just 17-14 near down the stretch but Otterbein won five of the next six points en route to the win.

The Purple and White held a 12-11 advantage midway through the middle frame until Otterbein delivered a backbreaking 10-1 scoring run to seize a 2-0 match lead.

Capital grabbed a quick 3-0 lead to begin the third set, but it would be all Otterbein from that point on as the Cardinals embarked on a commanding 22-5 run and eventually finished the job.

Hadley Sterett (15) and Morgan Lowenkamp (14) combined for 29 of Otterbein's 58 kills on the evening, with Lowenkamp posting a .632 hitting percentage for yet another efficient outing. She leads the OAC and ranks top-five nationally in the category.

Senior Brett Bey, nine kills, and junior Alana King-Mendenhall, five kills and four blocks, complemented the team effort nicely at the net while setter Andrea Miller tossed around 40 assists. She entered the week as the national leader in assists and is now averaging 11.2 per set.

The Cardinals hit .320 as a team and held the Crusaders to just a .077 output on the opposite side. Libero Ashlyn Leon had 11 digs while three other Cardinals tallied seven or more.

Bryanna Masters led the visitors with nine kills and a .261 percentage but no other Crusaders mustered more than three points.

Otterbein will return to action in less than 48 hours with a rare Sunday match, heading over to nearby Denison for a 3 p.m. contest at The Mitchell Center.