ADA, Ohio – The Otterbein volleyball team absorbed another tough loss Wednesday night in Ohio Athletic Conference play, this time in a battle of two nationally-ranked teams at the ONU Sports Center.

The No. 23-ranked Cardinals attempted to fight back from an early hole but ultimately rested with a four-set defeat by final scores of 19-25, 16-25, 25-21, 19-25. As a result, Otterbein now sits 20-4 overall and 6-2 within the league standings.

Ohio Northern, coming in No. 17 in the latest AVCA national poll, improve to 19-5 this fall and 7-1 against the conference. The Polar Bears will play at Mount Union (also 7-1) this weekend with the regular-season title on the line.

Otterbein, meanwhile, is deadlocked with Muskingum for third place at the moment… although the Muskies hold the tiebreaker after outlasting the Cards in five sets last Saturday.

HOW IT HAPPENED AT ONU:
Otterbein trailed just 19-16 in the first until a 5-1 run by the hosts opened things up. The second set encountered a similar theme, as the Cards led (12-11) before Northern pulled ahead to finish the frame on a lopsided 14-4 rally.

The Cardinals regrouped temporarily and stayed alive with a nice third set, breaking a 6-6 deadlock by virtue of a 9-4 spurt midway through. However, an 8-0 response from ONU put Otterbein on the brink of elimination…

Admirably, the Cards countered with a powerful 10-3 scoring stretch to claim the set and remain afloat.

ONU led the entire fourth set, but was close throughout as the home side only led 16-14 entering crunch time. Unfortunately, the Cardinals soon found themselves in a 21-17 hole and couldn't fly out.

Ohio Northern hit .259 for the match compared to a .189 output on the opposite side. The Polar Bears received 22 digs from Rachel Jennings, 12 kills from Taylor Baxter and nine service aces collectively.

Emma Linehan (13), Amber Greeley (12) and Morgan Hartman (10) all tallied double-digit kills for the Cardinals. Those smacks were scattered around the 51 assists of Carlie Craycraft, who remains among the national leaders in the category.

Bridget Oder had 24 digs in the back, her seventh match over 20 this season.

Otterbein will return home for a pair of weekend contests this Saturday, hosting a tri-match with Capital and Hiram inside the Rike Center. Linehan and classmate Julia Vermilion will be recognized prior to the opener as part of Senior Day.