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WESTERVILLE, Ohio – Otterbein finally returned to its home floor Friday night, splitting the home opener with Baldwin Wallace. The Cardinals improved to an impressive 7-0 before the Yellow Jackets claimed victory in the second match of the evening.

The Cards are now 7-1 overall and within the Ohio Athletic Conference while Baldwin Wallace improves its record to 3-2.

MATCH 1: (W 25-14, 25-19, 16-25, 25-20)
Otterbein jumped all over the Yellow Jackets early, taking a commanding 5-1 advantage and running away with it. The lead eventually ballooned to 18-6 before BW found a groove and began chipping away. The closest the visitors got was 24-14 before Emma Linehan ended the Jackets hopes of a comeback.

The Jackets did however carry some of the set one momentum with them into the second. BW got off to a strong start, going up 4-0 in forcing the Cards into a quick time out. Otterbein eventually fought its way back to tie things up at 10. The visitors capitalized on some Cardinal mistake, and took a 13-10 lead before Otterbein ripped off four straight points to take the lead back. After a BW timeout the Cards pushed their lead up to 23-19 before closing set two out with a Julia Vermilion kill on one of 40 assists from Carlie Craycraft.

The Yellow Jackets didn't back down in set three, starting with another quick 5-1 lead before expanding the advantage up to 10-5. Otterbein chipped away but the closest they got was 15-10 before BW scored five unanswered. Momentum started to swing the way of the Cards with a block from Morgan Hartman to cut the lead to 21-12, but BW closed the door winning their only set of the first match.

The Cardinals earned their 7th victory of the year in set four, battling back from an early 3-0 BW advantage. Otterbein tied it up at 12 then battled back-and-forth with the Yellow Jackets as the lead changed hands three times. The Cards eventually pulled ahead at 17-16 and went on to put the Jackets away.

Craycraft dished out 40 assists in the match while Morgan Hartman posted a double-double with 18 digs and a team-high 19 kills. Julia Vermilion joined in on the fun with a double-double of her own, posting 11 digs and 18 kills while Hillary Sterett recorded 15 digs of her own.

MATCH 2: (L 21-25, 19-25, 25-14, 17-25)
Baldwin Wallace found the recipe in game two, handing the Cardinals their first loss of the season.

The Jackets held off a furious Cardinal comeback attempt in set one, trailing 21-16 the Cards brought it all the way back to 23-21 before BW secured the win.

Baldwin Wallace never trailed in set two, but the Cardinals did tie things up at 17-17 before BW pulled away with a 6-1 run.

Otterbein collected its only set win in the third, never trailing after getting ahead 7-1 early.

Baldwin Wallace once again had to hold off a Cardinal comeback attempt in the fourth set. Trailing 20-13 the Cards went on a 6-0 run before the Yellow Jackets could finally shut down the momentum. Despite only trailing 20-16 the Cards only added one more point down the stretch, dropping its first match of the season in four sets.

Hartman recorded another team-best 17 kills in game two while Craycraft added onto her total assists with 30, giving her 70 between the two matches.

LOOKING AHEAD:
The Cardinals will remain home and welcome John Carroll to town on Tuesday with two more games slated for 6 p.m. and 8 p.m.