ADA, Ohio – The Otterbein volleyball team's quest to defend its Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) Tournament crown was thwarted Saturday afternoon inside the ONU Sports Center, as the host Polar Bears caught rhythm early and later finished off a 25-14, 25-21, 25-20 sweep.

Ohio Northern, the top seed and ranked No. 17 in the latest AVCA national poll, found some redemption after missing the bracket last year due to CoVID-19 issues. The Polar Bears win their second title in three years and receive an automatic bid to the upcoming NCAA Tournament.

Otterbein, ranked No. 23 nationally, now stands with 23-5 overall and will have to wait to see if it receives an at-large bid to the Big Dance. The NCAA Selection Show will take place Monday afternoon at 12:30 p.m.

The Polar Bears (22-5) grabbed momentum from the start and never eased up, taking a 10-4 lead in the first set and settling into the early lead.

A tight second set would ultimately be a huge difference maker, as the score was never outside two points either direction. The frame encountered ties at 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19 and 20 before consecutive kills from ONU's Sydney Eggleton sparked the home side on a 5-1 run to culminate.

Otterbein stayed confident and didn't go quietly, holding a 13-12 lead midway through the third set on a kill by Morgan Hartman. However, ONU responded with a 7-2 run to jump back ahead for good.

Senior Emma Linehan hit 10-1-17 (.529) in the middle for Otterbein while Anna Cecil was a productive 6-0-7 in relief on the outside. Setters Carlie Craycraft and Kailey Mishler shared the duties up front, combining for 38 helpers.

Ohio Northern hit a blistering .386 offensively and the Cards finished at a .234 percentage. Three Polar Bears contributed double-digit kills.

The Cardinals committed nine service errors while ONU manufactured more points at the net, ending the day with 16 block assists.

Linehan and Amber Greeley were named to the All-Tournament Team as a result of their efforts this past week. Stay tuned to otterbeincardinals.com and all of our social media outlets for continued updates heading into next week.