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WESTERVILLE, Ohio – The Otterbein volleyball team worked its way back to salvage a key split to punctuate the OAC/HCAC Challenge Friday night in the Rike Center, pitting the best of the Ohio Athletic Conference against the best from the Heartland.

The Cardinals welcomed three nationally-ranked teams in Transylvania (17), Mount St. Joseph (19) and Ohio Northern (24), both matchup up twice against a foe from the opposite league.
Otterbein dropped a tough opener against Transylvania before responding nicely later in the evening, escaping with a five-set thriller over the previously unbeaten Lions of MSJ. The Cards now stand 8-7 overall this year while playing a jam-packed slate.

TRANSY RECAP (L 3-0):

It was tough sledding for the Cardinals against reigning Elite 8 finalist and the No. 17-ranked Pioneers, falling in straight sets (16-25, 21-25, 22-25) despite being very competitive later in the match.

Transy hit a whopping .500 in the opening set to pull away. Otterbein was right there (14-13) midway through the second frame before a 7-0 run by the Pioneers created too much separation.

Otterbein led for most of a third set that featured ties at 15, 16, 17, 18 and 19 before Transylvania pulled ahead 21-19. The Cards still only trailed 23-22 before a kill and service ace by the Pioneers ended the match.

Cate Scheper hit 12-5-24 for Transy, which saw setter Grace Ward average nearly 10 assists per set. The Pioneers hit .324 collectively while Otterbein finished at a .149 clip.

MSJ RECAP (W 3-2):

The Cardinals played a marathon nightcap against the No. 19-ranked Lions, prevailing late following back-and-forth momentum swings from both squads. In the end, Otterbein stood on top with a line score of 21-25, 25-20, 25-20, 23-25, 15-11.

Otterbein held a 16-13 lead in the first set before things went awry, as MSJ used an 8-2 run to steamroll ahead and grab an early lead. The Cards then found themselves ahead 19-14 in the second frame but had to hang on down the stretch. MSJ closed within 20-19 but the hosts admirably won five of the next six points.

The middle set was a true dogfight that encountered nine deadlocks in the middle/teen points until Otterbein found breathing room at 20-17 behind an assortment of hitters. MSJ countered very briefly but the Cards pulled away behind a diverse offensive push.

Mount St. Joseph then led 15-10 in the fourth before Otterbein drew even at 15-15. The guests responded with a few points in a row and barely held off the charging Cardinals, who saw a deflected missle from Kennedy Hoffman nearly derail the Mount St. Joseph iPad on team film. Nevertheless, MSJ later received a clinching kill from Addie Conley with the score 24-23.

The race to 15 points in a winner-take-all fifth set had Otterbein leading 8-5 at the changing of sides. MSJ collected two points to keep it very interesting and only trailed 9-8 before the Cards captured a final groove. Three-straight kills (from a trio of Cardinals) guided the team to a 13-9 advantage that ultimately proved to be a big difference.

Five players had eight or more kills for Otterbein, led by Hartman's 22 spearheading all hitters. Maddie Mergen showed a heightened burst throughout to finish with a 12-3-23 (.391) line on the right side. Kristen Scherger added eight blasts and hit .294 in her extended action up the middle.

Olivia Vitaz (31) and Kailey Mishler (27) combined for 58 assists around the net while Amanda Troyer had yet another match with 30 digs in the shirt. Freshman Makenzie Schellenberger added 10 digs while impacting the serve game mightily, ripping off SEVEN aces.

UP NEXT:
The Cardinals have the remainder of the weekend off before launching conference play come Wednesday night, traveling over to Muskingum for a first serve at 7 p.m.