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WESTERVILLE, Ohio – A return home to the friendly confines of the Rike Center helped the Otterbein volleyball team notch its first win of the young season Friday night, taking down Hanover College in four sets to kickstart the weekend.

The Cardinals, fresh off a difficult weekend in St. Louis filled with nationally-ranked opponents, found their grove midway through the match to beat the Panthers for a fourth-straight time.

HOW IT PLAYED OUT:

• The early portion of the night was a tale of two sets. Otterbein grabbed momentum from opening serve en route to a 17-9 lead, and stayed on the gas pedal to control the opening frame 25-15.
   
• Hanover settled in and made its presence known in the second frame. The Cards trailed just 13-10 nearing the middle portion but HC struck an 8-0 run to pull away.
   
• Both sides traded points in what became a relatively tight third set, featuring a 15-15 deadlock until Otterbein found a way to capture eight of the next 11 points. That pushed the home side into a 23-18 advantage before quickly polishing things off.
   
• The Panthers did not go quietly, forcing early ties in the fourth set and only trailing 11-10 after a nice kill. But Otterbein kicked into gear for a difference-making stretch… striking a 7-1 run to put the visitors in too deep of a hole.

STAT CHECK:

• Neither side hit above .170 for a match that saw its share of decent rallies.|
   
• Otterbein held a 9-1 edge in service aces to steal some critical points, with Makenzie Schellenberger and Madison McCoy ripping three each.
   
• Sophomore Maddie Mergen hit an efficient 9-3-20 (.300) at the net while Kennedy Hoffman and Morgan Hartman combined for 29 kills over a steep 95 attempts as a duo.
   
• Libero Amanda Troyer had 30 digs on the dot while setter Olivia Vitaz averaged more than 11 assists per set.
   
• Hanover dominated the blocking game at 22-8 overall, with Molly Schwarzkopf finding herself in part of eight around the pin.

UP NEXT:

Otterbein will head across town Saturday for a pair to continue the Pam Briggs Fall Classic, playing Bethany and Earlham at Capital. Match times are 10 a.m. and 2 p.m.