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WESTERVILLE, Ohio – The Otterbein volleyball team tested itself with a third nationally-ranked opponent this season Friday night in the Rike Center, launching Homecoming weekend with a tough but hard-fought loss to No. 19 Wittenberg in front of a strong crowd.

The Cardinals and Tigers went down to the wire in all three sets, with Wittenberg ultimately claiming decisive points to emerge by final counts of 25-21, 25-23, 25-20. Otterbein falls to 13-2 on the year as a result, and will have a full week off before hosting a tri-match next weekend.

Wittenberg, getting to 5-5 on the season after opening with a slew of nationally-ranked opponents, led 18-13 down the stretch of the opening frame before Otterbein fought back. The Cards clawed to within one point on a pair of occasions, 20-19 and again at 21-20, before the visitors pulled away.

The second frame would be the closest from start to finish, seeing seven deadlocks at various scores and ultimately settling on a 23-23 tie. Wittenberg then took advantage of as Cardinal service error before a kill made the night 2-0.

Otterbein never went quietly in the third frame despite Wittenberg leading most of the way. The Cards remained within striking distance, finding themselves down just 18-16 in the final stages before running out of steam. The Tigers would win four points in a row to emerge in a key regional battle.

Otterbein hit just .165 on the night compared to .241 for Wittenberg, which got 18 kills from Katie Hiestand and another 10 from senior Aubrey Cox.

Both sides offered free points with a combined 21 service aces, while the Cards were also whistled for four blocking errors. Otterbein had eight kills from Tate Eppard while freshman Amber Greeley offered a spark with a line a 4-0-7.

The Cardinals will be back in action next Saturday with nationally-ranked Carnegie Mellon and Transylvania coming to town.