SPRINGFIELD, Ohio – Tuesday night marked another non-conference win for the Otterbein Volleyball team, which has now captured four of its last five matches following a gritty 3-1 triumph at Wittenberg.

The Cardinals, overcoming an early hole after dropping the first set, displayed some nice fortitude on the road to eventually stand on top by scores of 18-25, 25-23, 25-20, 25-23 inside Pam Evans Smith Arena.

Head Coach Monica Wright, a recent inductee into the Wittenberg Hall of Honor, beats her alma mater for the first time since 2011 when the Tigers later went on to win the NCAA Championship.

HOW IT WENT DOWN:

• Wittenberg, 2x defending champs of the North Coast Athletic Conference and led by former Otterbein player Evelyn (Carus) Miller, got off to a nice start. The hosts opened a 12-8 lead, watch the Cards draw even at 15-15, but countered to end the frame on a 10-3 spurt.
   
• Otterbein was in more trouble midway through the second set before pulling itself out, trailing 18-13 until kicking into gear. The Cards won seven of the next 10 points behind multiple smacks from Morgan Hartman and Kennedy Hoffman, slicing the gap to just 21-20. A pair of ties ensued (at 22 and 23) before the Cards won two in a row…
   
• Both sides traded points in a very even initial half of the third set, encountering a knot at 14-14. Otterbein then erupted with a 6-0 run, never looked back and vaulted ahead for (what would be) good in the match.
   
• The fourth set was a rugged display on both sides that treated fans to some lengthy rallies until Otterbein held a 19-17 edge. Wittenberg stormed back with a 6-0 run of its own to push the Cards into a frustrating 23-17 deficit…
   
• But wait, there's more. The Cardinals admirably flew back to steal the final act with a culminating 8-0 run that encompassed a few Tiger miscues and exclamation mark kill from Hoffman.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE:

• Otterbein hit .177 as a team for the match while holding Wittenberg to a .095 output, made possible by a new career-high 39 digs from libero Amanda Troyer. It marks the fourth-most in a single match ever for Otterbein, and the junior also led everyone with three service aces.
   
• Hartman rattled off 22 kills over 58 attempts while Hoffman added another dozen, as the duo will surely look to ice up the shoulders after some heavy workloads to begin the year. Hartman (now with 1,221) passes Annie Juenger for fourth all-time in program history for career kills.
   
• Madison McCoy contributed in multiple ways with seven kills (no errors), four blocks and dour digs.
   
• Tyler Linkhart led Wittenberg with 14 kills on the home side, which has played a nasty slate of ranked opponents to begin the year in Juniata (1), Hope (3), Calvin (4), Johns Hopkins (9) and Berry (14).

FRIDAY SHOWCASE:

Otterbein will return to the Rike Center and host the OAC/HCAC Challenge on Friday night as Ohio Northern, Transylvania and Mount St. Joseph all arrive to campus for a pair of matches. First serves are scheduled for roughly 6 and 8 p.m.