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WESTERVILLE, Ohio – Otterbein fans were treated to a 2-for-1 volleyball special inside the Rike Center throughout Saturday afternoon, as the Cardinals remained hot to keep their winning streak firmly alive and intact.

Otterbein, ranked No. 22 in the AVCA national poll, began the day by sweeping an Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) match against Heidelberg and then rallied out of an early deficit to upend Mount St. Joseph in four sets.

The Cardinals are now 19-2 on the season, having won the last 18 matches in a row spanning back to the first week of September. They will look to keep that streak moving next Wednesday night as Wilmington visits the Rike.

By virtue of dropping the first set against MSJ, Otterbein's wild streak of consecutive-sets won comes to an end at 48. It ties Wisconsin-Whitewater for the seventh-longest streak in NCAA Division III history.

HEIDELBERG RECAP: (W 25-14, 25-15, 25-14)
It was all Cardinals right from the opening serve. Otterbein, playing in front of a rather nice and energetic crowd, quickly extended a 10-7 lead into a 20-11 advantage midway through the first set.

A similar theme would play out in the second, as the Cards led 16-12 midway through before five-straight points opened things up again. The third set would become lopsided after Otterbein flew out to leads of 15-1, 16-3 and 21-5. Heidelberg won some points late to shrink the final margin.

Emma Linehan led all players in kills with a final hitting line of 11-2-15 (.600)… but the Cardinals were very balanced. Four others had six-plus kills around the direction of setter Carlie Craycraft, who averaged exactly 11 assists per frame.

Hiedelberg hit .151 offensively as Cardinal libero Bridget Oder mustered 18 digs while Morgan Hartman chipped in another 11.

MOUNT ST. JOSEPH RECAP: (W 18-25, 25-15, 26-24, 25-15)
All good things usually come to an end… and that's what took place early against the Lions as Otterbein dropped its first set since way back on September 7 at Denison. The Cards, down 2-0 in that match, rallied to win the next three and had since posted 16 sweeps.

Nevertheless, Otterbein promptly responded with a comfortable victory in the second set and then battled to claim the third. That set featured ties at 11, 12, 13, 14 and 15 before the Lions opened a 20-16 lead…

The Cardinals didn't go anywhere, flying back with a 6-2 run and forcing a deadlock at 22-22. Ties at 23 and 24 preceded a pair of MSJ attacking errors, allowing Otterbein to escape. The moment remained on the home side in the fourth, as the Cardinals opened an 11-2 lead and never looked back.

Hartman fired off a match-high 18 kills while fellow outside Julia Vermilion notched a double-double with 13 rips and 10 digs. Linehan and Amber Greeley both had eight smacks offensively, Craycraft passed around 45 dimes, and Oder dug up another 22 efforts from the Lions.