WESTERVILLE, Ohio – The Otterbein volleyball team dropped its first conference match of the season Tuesday evening inside the Rike Center, dropping a four-set matchup with No. 22-ranked Ohio Northern by score of 25-21, 22-25, 16-25, 25-15.

The Cardinals and Polar Bears are now deadlocked at 7-1 in conference play following the result, and each side will have one more match remaining this coming weekend. Otterbein heads to play Capital on Friday while ONU travels to Mount Union on Saturday.

Otterbein jumped out to a lead on its home floor, winning four-straight points and forcing Ohio Northern head coach Kate Witte to burn a quick timeout. The Polar Bears (18-7, 7-1 OAC) fought back to tie the frame at 10-10, but the Cardinals built their lead back to four on a few occasions en route to a 1-0 match lead.

The second set would be the night's closest showdown, with both sides trading early points until ONU opened a 13-10 lead midway through. The visitors later stood on top, 17-12, before Otterbein scraped its way back and trailed 23-22 by crunch time. Unfortunately, the Polar Bears would prevail and tie the match following a pair of miscues by the Cards.

Ohio Northern finished the night with comfortable victories in the next two frames, leading wire-to-wire in both the third and fourth to secure the victory. The Cardinals had no answer for the hot hitting of ONU's McKenna Jordan, who carried her team in spurts en route a final offensive line of 20-2-53 (.340).

Madi Ellis and Chelsea Huppert both added 11 kills for a Polar Bear squad that hit .226 and had six service aces. Otterbein received double-doubles from Hadley Sterett (16 kills and 15 digs) and Andrea Miller (47 assists and 19 digs) as the Cardinal offense hit .176 collectively.

Miller surpassed 4,000 assists for her career in the second set, becoming just the 12th player in Ohio Athletic Conference history to do so and just the third from the modern-day format. The NCAA changed the number of points needed to win a set, from 30 to 25, prior to the 2008 season.

Julia Vermilion contributed 11 kills while Alana King-Mendenhall posted 10 herself from the middle. Libero Ashlyn Leon tied Miller and Ohio Northern's Madison Broering for a match-high 19 digs.

The team will begin Otterbein's "Rivalry Weekend" with Capital (0-24, 0-8 OAC) on Friday night before traveling to play third-ranked Wittenberg on Saturday morning in the regular-season finale.