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WESTERVILLE, Ohio – Otterbein went streaking through its opponent and remained in the win column throughout all of Tuesday night in the Rike Center, sweeping John Carroll in a pair of 3-0 matches during volleyball action.

The Cardinals improve to 9-1 on the year as a result, keeping pace with Muskingum (8-0) near the top of the league standings. Otterbein and Capital, by virtue of moving their match up, have played two more outings than anyone else at this point.

MATCH 1 (W 25-8, 25-22, 25-21):
Otterbein absolutely blitzed JCU during the first set, turning a 12-7 game into a lopsided final count after winning 12-straight points down the stretch.

The second frame was much tighter, with the Blue Streaks holding a 7-3 edge before the Cards worked back to tie things at 16 and 17. Otterbein eventually broke free in the final sequence thanks to a JCU service error and consecutive kills from Morgan Hartman and Emma Linehan.

Deadlocks of 16-16 and 20-20 encompassed the third set, but the Cards broke free each time to prevail. Otterbein hit .314 as a team in the opening match behind a 14-1-23 (.565) line from Hartman, the reigning OAC Offensive Player of the Week.

Linehan, who found success all night in the middle, and newbie Madison McCoy both added seven. Carlie Craycraft dished out 34 helpers and classmate Bridget Oder had 11 digs in the back.

MATCH 2 (W 27-25, 25-22, 25-20)
The second affair featured three very tight sets, beginning with a wild opener that saw Otterbein relinquish a 24-17 lead. The Blue Streaks admirably battled back to win eight-straight points and somehow grab a 25-24 advantage. Otterbein weathered that storm, capturing the next three points on successive kills and then a JCU attack error.

Both sides went back and forth in a narrow second game, finding ties at 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21 and 22 before the Cardinals emerged yet again. Two opponent attack errors, sandwiched around a service ace from Hartman, bumped the lead to 2-0.

Otterbein never trailed in the third set, opening an 18-12 cushion and holding off the pesky Blue Streaks moving forward. JCU actually got to within 20-19, but a 6-1 from the Cardinals ended the night.

Hartman had another 15 kills this time around and continues leading the conference at 3.91 per set this season. The Twin Towers, Linehan and Amber Greeley, combined for 15 themselves to benefit the cause while Craycaft distributed another 32 dimes.

Otterbein remained aggressive in the serve game, overcoming 10 errors with 12 aces. JCU tallied a pair of aces with three mishaps on the other side.

LOOKING AHEAD:
Otterbein will close out the week with a pair of road matchups at Heidelberg, scheduled this Friday for 6 and 8 p.m.