PHOTO GALLERY
WESTERVILLE, Ohio – You might remember seeing this script before.
For the third-straight season, the Otterbein volleyball team has found a way to avenge a regular-season loss to Muskingum and eliminate the Muskies in the Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) Tournament.
In 2019, Otterbein swept Muskingum two weeks after dropping a four-setter in New Concord. This past spring, the Cardinals lost the second showdown of a doubleheader with the Muskies… but turned around to win a five-set thriller in the championship round. Just 12 days ago, Muskingum emerged with a five-set victory on its home floor. But, wait for it…
The latest installment Thursday night saw the No. 23-ranked Cardinals exact more revenge… this time in dominating fashion as a wild and raucous home crowd watched on in the Rike Center. By the time the final point fell, Otterbein stood on top by scores of 25-12, 25-19, 25-22.
As a result, the second-seeded Cards now head back to regular-season champ and No. 17-ranked Ohio Northern for a rematch… this time with a chance to defend the league crown. ONU beat Otterbein in four sets last week.
HOW THE SEMIFINAL PLAYED OUT:
It was all Cardinals… early and often. Otterbein found a 9-3 lead in the first set after kills from multiple players, and then later won five-straight points midway through to balloon the margin to 17-6.
The second set featured more of the same with the Cardinals opening a touchdown advantage at 14-7. Muskingum fought back to within 17-13, but Otterbein quickly secured six of the next nine points.
Otterbein never trailed (at any point) the entire night, which included leads of 14-6 and 19-12 in the third act. However, a pesky Muskingum squad never quit and continued playing all the way through… winning five-straight points down the stretch and getting within 19-17…
The visitors admirably fought off four match-points at the end before a point from setter
Carlie Craycraft culminated the night. The junior floor general, who ranks second nationally in assists per set this fall and recently went over 3,000 total for her career, dished out another 37 to lead the effort.
Libero
Bridget Oder surpassed 1,000 career digs on the night, coming up with 11 as Muskingum hit just .139 compared to a blistering .323 output for Otterbein.
Amanda Troyer tallied another nine digs for the defense, although her most important contribution on the day was bringing Sports Information Director
Adam Prescott three pieces of pizza and a salad for lunch… as he was too busy to step away.
Offensively,
Morgan Hartman showed nice grit en route to a final line of 14-1-24 (.542) on the outside.
Madison McCoy,
Emma Linehan and
Amber Greeley all hit .375 or better as well. The Cardinals also controlled the net with a stellar blocking edge of 10-3, led by two solo bangs from McCoy and Linehan. McCoy's all-around performance settled with five kills, five blocks, three service aces and three digs.
WEEKEND PREVIEW:
First serve from the ONU Sports Center will take place at 2 p.m. with an automatic bid to the NCAA Championships up for grabs. The two schools met in perhaps the most thrilling OAC Final ever back in 2019 on the same court, when Otterbein had multiple match points before the Polar Bears clawed back to prevail in five.
Stay tuned to otterbeincardinals.com and all of our social media outlets for ongoing coverage!
