MUSKINGUM PHOTO GALLERY
THOMAS MORE GALLERY (Senior Recognition)

WESTERVILLE, Ohio –It was another day, and another Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) victory for the Otterbein volleyball team as the Cardinals emerged with a four-set triumph over Muskingum inside the Rike Center Saturday afternoon by scores of 25-20, 20-25, 25-21, 25-23.

Otterbein, remaining unbeaten in OAC competition, improves to 7-0 within the league and will prepare for a massive showdown Tuesday night against Ohio Northern. The Cards can clinch a second-straight OAC regular-season title by topping the Polar Bears, who now stand alone in second place within the standings at 6-1. A victory by ONU would create a tie with one more conference match remaining after.

Both the Cardinals and Muskies (21-5, 5-2 OAC) traded punches in a fun first set, which saw multiple ties and then another deadlock at 18-18 before Otterbein took control. The Cards  rattled off three-straight points to create some space before a finalizing kill from sophomore Emily Shuk.

Otterbein had the upper hand in set two and was primed for a 2-0 advantage, holding leads of 15-10 and 17-13 before a spirited Muskingum squad found some momentum. The visitors scored four-straight points to force a Cardinal timeout, and a 20-20 deadlocked quickly ensued. The Muskies found a groove from there, tallying five in a row to even the match.

Otterbein led the entire way in the third frame, opening an 8-3 cushion early on and then finding itself up 17-10 following a setting error from the opposition. Muskingum never went quietly down the stretch, clawing to within 23-21 before committing a pair of attack errors.

The Cards then seized the moment by never trailing again in the fourth set, leading 19-14 at one point until Muskingum countered to eventually pull even at 20-20. It would be closing time once again for the home side, which rallied around an energetic crowd on its feet and received kills from Tate Eppard and Alana King-Mendenhall at the finish line.

Setter Andrea Miller was impressive once again, turning in 44 assists and tying for a team-high 17 digs around the floor. She now has 3,981 assists for her career and will look to cross the rare 4,000 plateau next week.

Hadley Sterett had a double-double with 17 digs and 16 kills, but Shuk and fellow youngster Julia Vermilion were the difference-makers with 13 kills each on the outside. Otterbein overcame 11 service errors compare to just three for Muskingum, who received a match-best 17 kills from Brooke Fatheree and 44 assists from current OAC Player of the Week Erin Dickson.

Otterbein finished out the tri-match later in the afternoon against No. 5-ranked Thomas More College, falling to the red-hot Saints by counts of 16-25, 13-25, 25-20, 21-25. The Cards moved to 19-6 overall while Thomas More, recently off a victory over top-ranked Calvin College, now stands 25-2 this season.

TMC eased its way to a 2-0 advantage before Otterbein admirably fought back, breaking a 13-13 tied midway through the third and opening three-point leads of 17-14, 19-16 , 21-18 and 22-19 before culminating with a slick kill from Miller. The Cards then went toe-to-toe with the Saints in set four, trailing just 15-14 and then 18-16 before Thomas More held on.

Standout freshman Emily Mohs was impressive for Thomas More, delivering 26 kills for an offense that hit .318 and got 53 assists from Jenna Fessler. Sterett matched a career-high 19 digs to go along with 10 assists while Shuk added nine kills. Miller had another 40 helpers as the Cards did hit .242 collectively.

Otterbein also honored Sterett, Miller, King-Mendenhall and fellow classmates Kalyn Schroer and Olivia Harris prior to the second match as part of Senior Day.