Box Score ADA, Ohio – In one of the most intense and competitive Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) Tournament Championship showdowns in recent history, it was top seed Ohio Northern fighting off four match points to narrowly eclipse third seed Otterbein during a five-set thriller at the ONU Sports Center on Saturday afternoon.

No. 12-ranked Ohio Northern earns the league's NCAA automatic qualifier spot for the second year in a row, winning by crazy close line scores of 21-25, 25-23, 23-25, 27-25, 16-14. Otterbein falls to a still very impressive 25-6 on the year and will now await word of a potential at-large bid. The NCAA Selection Show is scheduled for Monday at 12:30 p.m.

"I have been here in the conference for 29 years," began OAC Commissioner Tim Gleason during the post-match ceremony. "That was the most impressive and high quality volleyball championship match I have ever seen. Both teams should be so proud."

Otterbein opened strong in front of an energetic crowd on both sides, flying to a 14-8 lead and never trailing in the first set. ONU scored four straight after that and also trailed just 16-14, but the Cards kicked into gear heading forward behind six kills from Dasha Bruyako in the frame.

Both sides traded points to begin the second set, with Otterbein leading 8-5 before five-straight points from the Polar Bears The frame would then see ties at 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 19, 20 and 23 before ONU captured two points in a row.

Ohio Northern, which had trailed 19-17 in the previous set, carried all of that momentum toward a lopsided 19-9 lead in the third. Otterbein regrouped from a timeout and delivered a wild comeback that begin with an 8-0 run to make the score 19-17.

The Cards later trailed 21-18 before fighting through adversity once more, closing the frame on a 7-2 run and somehow taking a 2-1 match lead. Tate Eppard ripped off a pair of kills to finish after the set was deadlocked a 23-23.

Otterbein led 12-9 in the fourth before things became knotted up at 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 20 and 21 before Otterbein had three set points, up 24-22, 24-23 and 25-24. The Polar Bears displayed some perseverance to win four-straight points and emerge 27-25.

A race to 15 in the winner-take-all fifth set saw ties at 5, 6 and 7 until ONU led 8-7 at the changeover. More deadlocks ensued at 8, 9, 10, 11, 12 and 13 before the Cards had another match point at 14-13. The Polar Bears tied quickly everything up again at 14 and ultimately finish the day on a 4-0 spurt.

"It was a tough outcome to swallow at the end, but we are playing very good volleyball and now just hoping for another chance," head coach Monica Wright said. "I think our team can deliver a great showing in the NCAA Tournament and make a run on the national stage."

Freshman Anna Donner had a match and career-high 23 kills while hitting .357 on the afternoon. Eppard added 19, Bruyako had 17 and Shuk tallied 14.

All of that was centered around the eye-popping 73 assists from freshman setter Carlie Craycraft, the third-most ever in a match for Otterbein and the most since the number of points needed to win a set was lowered from 30 to 25 back in 2008.

Senior libero Ashlyn Leon had a career-high 36 digs while youngster Bridget Oder compiled 18. Stay tuned to otterbeincardinals.com and our social media outlets for updates heading into next week.