REGIONAL SITE
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – The No. 3 seeded Otterbein volleyball team delivered a sweep in its NCAA opener Thursday afternoon, blanking No. 6 Westminster (Pa.) in the first round of the regional at Van Noord Arena.
The Cardinals, also ranked No. 24 in the latest national poll, emerged by final scores of 25-20, 25-11, 25-23 to win their opener in the NCAA Championships for a fourth-straight time.
Otterbein led 9-8 early after taking a handful of points to settle in, likely trying to overcome the disappointment of the waterslide at the team hotel being closed. Despite that bummer, the group soon embarked on a lopsided 10-3 run to pull away in the first set. Both sides traded points down the backstretch but the Cardinals ultimately had too much breathing room.
The second set became one-sided as play progressed, as Otterbein morphed a 6-6 deadlock into a 22-9 lead… punctuated on a service ace from
Carlie Craycraft. The Cards won nine-straight points during the middle of the frame.
Westminster, with its back against the wall, came out strong in the third. The Titans led early and then opened a 15-11 lead as Otterbein tinkered with a 6-2 rotation.
Emma Linehan stopped the bleeding temporarily with back-to-back kills… but Westminster rattled off the next three points (going ahead 18-13) and forced the Cardinals to call a timeout.
Otterbein regrouped mightily out of the break with a 7-0 run, beginning with another downward rope from Linehan and featuring Westminster calling timeouts of its own to try and stop the rally. It didn't help much as the momentum-filled Cardinals create space en route to a 24-20 lead. The Titans fought off three match-points in a row before a kill from
Morgan Hartman ended the day.
Amber Greeley led all players with 14 kills while Linehan (a clean 10-0-15) and fellow senior
Julia Vermilion each ripped off 10. Defensively, libero
Bridget Oder compiled a smooth 24 digs on the back line to help limit Westminster into a .117 hitting clip.
The Cardinals hit .258 collectively around puppet master
Carlie Craycraft, with the setter handed out 38 assists to a variety of teammates. Hartman just missed a double-double but still finished with an all-around line of 12 digs, eight kills and three service aces.
Otterbein (24-5) enjoyed a nice serving day, posting seven aces (and just one error) while keeping Westminster out of rotation on multiple occasions. The Titans received eight kills from Maya Steward and finish their season with a 28-5 record.
The Cardinals will next face No. 9-ranked UW-Whitewater (Wis.) in the second round come Friday at 5:30 p.m.
