UNIVERSITY HEIGHTS, Ohio – On a night where Otterbein University took center stage to play host for the Democratic Presidential Debate, its volleyball team instead skipped town and eluded the wild scene throughout Westerville for a two-hour trip up north.

The Cardinals, taking center stage of their own inside the Tony DeCarlo Varsity Center on the campus of John Carroll University, scored early and often to fly away with an Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) road win by scores of 25-14, 25-18, 25-15.

Otterbein, winning its third-straight league contest, improves to 17-4 on the season and 3-1 against the conference. The team will finally return home to the Rike Center later this week, hosting a critical showdown with Heidelberg come Friday at 7 p.m.

Otterbein led the entire night aside from a few early points in each set. The Cards broke open a 15-13 score in the opener, culminating the frame on a 10-1 run and settling into the early lead.

John Carroll (17-7, 1-3 OAC) actually held a 12-9 edge as the second set progressed before Otterbein stormed back, taking control with a 9-1 rally and never looking back. The third set would see more of the same as the Cardinals found themselves up 13-7, then 18-11 into coasting to the finish line.

Tate Eppard continued her roll in conference play by leading all player in kills, finishing at 13-3-25 for an even .400 hitting percentage. She was also in on three blocks.

Julia Vermilion (11 kills and 11 digs) contributed her second-straight double-double around the rotation while Dasha Bruyako added six kills. Otterbein hit an impressive .316 collectively, now having won five-straight matchups over John Carroll and dropping just one set in the process.

Ashlyn Leon and Bridget Oder combined for 22 digs in the back as JCU hit just .129 as a unit offensively. Leon went over 1,900 digs for her career as the senior looks to become just the third player in program history to reach 2,000 before season's end.

The Cards ripped off 12 service aces, their most in over a month of play, while the Blue Streaks had just two. Cassi Calamunci paced John Carroll with eight kills.