MOUNT VERNON, Ohio – The Cardinal volleyball team made it five wins in a row Tuesday evening on the road, taking down NAIA Division II host Mount Vernon Nazarene in four sets at The Ariel Arena.

Otterbein, 9-4 on the season, fell behind early but rallied to prevail by final scores of 20-25, 25-19, 25-21, 25-23. The Cards will have another few days off before traveling to Heidelberg this coming weekend for non-conference outings against Mount St. Joseph and Case Western Reserve.

The Cougars (8-9) grabbed early momentum on their home court, winning the first set after breaking open a 17-16 score and settling into a 1-0 advantage. The rest of the night would belong to Otterbein, which responded by jumping ahead early in the second frame and keeping MVNU at arm's length throughout.

The third and fourth sets became very close down the stretch, but Otterbein was able to emerge with the critical points in critical moments of each. The third saw ties at 14, 15, 17 and 18 until the Cards tallied four in a row, highlighted by back-to-back service aces from senior Andrea Miller.

Mount Vernon actually opened with a 6-0 lead in the fourth set and led the majority of the way, holding leads of 10-4 and 16-11 as the game progressed. Otterbein stayed the course and never wavered, chipping away to ultimately draw even at 17 on an ace from Kalyn Schroer, and then at 18 and 19 on kills from All-American Hadley Sterett.

Otterbein led 23-21, then MVNU countered to tie at 23-23 before the Cardinals had the final laugh with a pair of closing points.

Miller, coming off a record-setting weekend where she became the school's all-time assists leader, directed traffic nicely to finish with 43 assists and 16 digs. Sterett also posted a double-double with a match-high 17 kills to accompany 10 digs.

Freshman Julia Vermilion hit 40 times and contributed a solid 14 kills as a result, while libero Ashlyn Leon tied counterpart Ellie Ruby for a match-best 19 digs. The Cards hit .191 as a team and overcame 15 service errors.

Otterbein will face Mount St. Joseph at noon on Saturday before concluding with Case Western directly after at 2 p.m.