Bloomington, Ill. – The Otterbein volleyball team won three of four outings this weekend at the Illinois Wesleyan Classic, hosted Friday and Saturday inside the Shirk Center and featuring some quality competition.

The Cardinals, now a solid 8-1 on the season, split on day one before a clean sweep on Saturday that featured a straight-set win over host and No. 24 ranked IWU.


Friday vs. Sewanee (W 3-0) and Chicao (L 3-0):

The Cardinals opened on day one with a convincing three-set victory over Sewanee by scores of 25-14, 25-16, 25-19.  Tate Eppard and Julia Vermillion led Otterbein in kills, each tallying 13, while Carlie Craycraft had 35 assists to help the Cardinals hit .354 collectively as a group.
 
Ashlyn Leon and Vermillion were a strong presence on the defensive side for Otterbein, combining for 37 of the team's 65 digs throughout. Sewanee struggled against the strong defensive attack put on by the Cards, only hitting .111 as a team.

Otterbein held significant advantages in assists (50-25) and kills (53-27) in their first match of the weekend.

In their second match of the day, Otterbein fell short against a No. 13-ranked Chicago team in three sets by scores of 25-12, 25-17, 25-21. Taylor Belcher was a strong contributor with 14 assists while Leon and freshman Bridget Oder both had 12 digs. Chicago hit .212 as a team while Otterbein was at an .073 rate.


Saturday vs. Hendrix (W 3-0) and Illinois Wesleyan (W 3-0):

Otterbein began day two of action with a 25-20, 25-19, 25-13 victory against Hendrix. Craycraft accounted for 35 of the team's 41 assists and the Cardinal serving game was the difference maker in this match, as the team registered 14 aces.

Leon led the Cards in multiple facets of the game, tallying 11 digs and leading the team in aces with four. Otterbein held a strong advantage in kills with 42 compared to Hendrix's 28.  Kate Fisher contributed 10 digs and three aces to the winning cause.
 
The most notable victory of the trip came in the finale, as Otterbein breezed to a dominating 25-13, 25-13, 25-15 triumph over the host Titans.
 
Otterbein captured all the momentum with a 7-0 lead in the first set and never took its foot off the gas. The Cards dominated the second frame, opening a 20-8 lead before winning, then found themselves up 19-11 in the third while working in many faces around the rotation.
 
Eppard blasted a match-high 14 kills for a lineup that hit .342 as a group. Belcher and Craycraft combined for 34 helpers and Oder had 16 digs. Illinois Wesleyan hit -.011 in the match with a team line of 16-17-94.
 
Vermilion and Eppard were named to the All-Tournament Team once again after also earning the recognition at Capital to begin the campaign. Otterbein will look to carry the positive vibes back to Ohio, with four matches scheduled next weekend at the Bishop Invitational over at OWU.