PHOTO GALLERY

WESTERVILLE, Ohio – The Otterbein volleyball team improved to 5-0 on the young season in its home opener Tuesday night, blowing past Denison by straight scores of 25-14, 25-11, 25-18 inside a well-attended Rike Center.

The Cardinals led from the get-go and never relinquished the momentum, breaking open an 8-7 lead in the first frame with a 12-4 spurt to pull away. More of the same was in store during the second set, as an 8-0 run midway through busted the score open to a 21-7 Otterbein lead.

Denison (1-3) didn't go quietly and put up a good fight in the third set, which saw 11 ties throughout the early going and a 15-15 deadlock as the home stretch awaited. Otterbein kicked into gear from there, scoring three points in a row behind kills from Emily Shuk and Tasia Lauth, followed by a service ace to create a nice gap.

The Cards used that energy to close the door, forcing a Big Red timeout at 21-17 and then finishing the night a few points later.

Junior middle hitter Tate Eppard, fresh off her MVP performance at the Capital Fall Classic, delivered a match-high 11 kills and hit .375 with a final line of 11-2-24. Julia Vermilion, who joined Eppard on the All-Tournament Team last weekend, added nine kills herself while newbie Anna Donner had eight and Shuk posted seven for the balanced attack.

Freshman Carlie Craycraft registered 36 assists for an offense that hit .383 throughout compared to Denison's .039 percentage. Otterbein had nine service aces as well.

The Cards will head to the Illinois Wesleyan Classic this coming weekend to play four matches against Sewanee, Chicago, Hendrix and the host Titans.