WESTERVILLE, Ohio – Things were not necessarily cheaper by the dozen Wednesday night as the Cardinal volleyball team searched for a 12th-straight win, as Otterbein was forced to work its way through a pesky John Carroll squad inside the Rike Center.
After two knock-down, drag-it-out sets sandwiched in the middle of the contest, it was the Cardinals who ultimately remained prefect in Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) by emerging with a 25-15, 26-28, 25-23, 25-14 victory. Otterbein now improves to 16-4 overall and 4-0 against the league.
The Cards easily grabbed the first set, 25-15, before finding themselves locked in a 16-16 tie midway through the second frame. John Carroll (12-9, 1-4 OAC) won three points in a row to create some breathing room and then stood on top at set point, 24-21.
Otterbein didn't waver, responding to draw even at 24, 25 and 26 until JCU captured two-consecutive points.
The third set would again feature a similar back-and-forth showdown, as neither team led by more than a few points and encountered 14 different ties from start to finish. Otterbein found some space at 22-19 before the visitors rallied with a quick spurt to lock up at 23-23. Senior
Hadley Sterett would deliver a pair of difference-making points on the Cardinal side, ripping off a kill and then finishing the set with a nice service ace down the left sideline.
Otterbein carried that momentum into a very lopsided fourth set, which saw the Cards embark on a wild 17-0 run behind the serve of libero
Ashlyn Leon. That flurry made the score 21-4 and head coach
Monica Wright had the luxury of working in several bench players to close things out.
Setter
Andrea Miller, the current OAC Player of the Week, continued her solid play with 50 assists and seven digs around the floor. Leon had 22 digs in the back, her second-high output of the season, while
Olivia Harris chipped in 11 and Sterett added nine.
Sterett went 18-5-49 (.265) while sophomore
Tate Eppard was strong in the middle, hitting .409 on a final line of 11-2-22.
Alana King-Mendenhall had nine kills and a .364 percentage and freshman
Julia Vermilion also posted nine of her own on the outside.
Both teams committed 10 service errors and John Carroll played well defensive at the net with nine total blocks. Sarah Calabrese paced the Blue Streaks with 14 kills.
Otterbein will look to keep winning this coming Saturday at a tri-match in Tiffin, traveling to Heidelberg for an OAC contest at 11 a.m. before a non-conference affair with Albion in the afternoon. Heidelberg was the only league team to beat the Cards last year.
