WESTERVILLE — The Otterbein volleyball team defeated John Carroll 3-1 on Wednesday night in a battle of two of the top teams in the Ohio Athletic Conference standings. The Cardinals won 25-19, 25-17, 22-25, 25-18 to take over sole possession of second place in the standings.

The Basics

• Records: Otterbein (17-8 overall, 6-2 OAC), John Carroll (17-8 overall, 5-3 OAC)
• Venue: Rike Center - Westerville, Ohio

Otterbein Stat Leaders

• Freshman Emerson Baum tallied 14 kills to lead a trio of Cardinals to finish in double digits in that category. Senior Kristen Scherger added 13 to go with 12 from senior Kennedy Hoffman.
• Baum also had three of Otterbein's nine service aces in the match and added a team-best five total blocks.
• Three Cardinals posted double-digit dig totals. Senior Amanda Troyer led the way with 26 to go with 18 from junior Olivia Vitaz and 10 from sophomore Ashley Kefauver.
• Vitaz added a team-high 48 assists.

Match Highlights

• Otterbein scored the first four points of the first set, getting two kills from Baum and one each from Scherger and Hoffman. JCU responded to take a 7-5 edge, and the teams continued to battle until the Cardinals put together a 6-1 run for a 21-14 lead. That spurt was highlighted by two kills from Hoffman, one kill each from Baum and junior Maddie Mergen and an ace from sophomore Makenzie Schellenberger. The Blue Streaks scored the next three points, but Otterbein was able to close out the 25-19 win, capping it with a kill from sophomore Lexi Scott.
• The teams played to a 7-7 tie in the second set before Otterbein put together a 6-1 run that included two kills from Scherger and one from Scott and an ace from Baum for a 13-8 lead. After JCU cut the lead to 17-14, the Cardinals rattled off four straight points capped by kills from Baum and Hoffman to extend the lead to 21-14. Otterbein later closed out the 25-17 victory on a kill from Scott.
• JCU built a 17-13 lead in the third set and later led 21-17. Back-to-back kills from Mergen and Baum followed by a JCU attack error got the Cardinals within one, and Otterbein later tied the score at 22 on a kill from Scherger. But the Blue Streaks scored the next three points to close out the 25-22 win and force a fourth set.
• Leading 13-11 in the fourth set, Otterbein used a 5-0 run to create some separation. That run included kills from Hoffman and Baum and an ace from Vitaz and put the Cardinals up 18-11. Later, four straight points via kills from Mergen, Scherger and Scott and an ace from Baum put the Cardinals up 23-15 en route to the 25-18 victory to clinch the match.
• Otterbein finished with 57 kills while hitting .214, and John Carroll finished with 41 kills while hitting .145.

Quote

• Freshman Emerson Baum: "It was a great team effort tonight. We had a lot of energy from the bench and on the court, and we did what was working, and we had a great team win."

Notables

• Otterbein entered Wednesday in a three-way tie with John Carroll and Mount Union for second place in the OAC standings. At 6-2, the Cardinals are now in sole possession of second place, one game ahead of a three-way tie for third between JCU, Mount Union and Ohio Northern with one game to play. Otterbein owns the head-to-head tiebreaker over each of those teams. The top six teams in the standings qualify for the OAC Tournament, with the top two teams receiving a first-round bye.
• Otterbein is 18-4 against John Carroll dating back to 2009 and has now won 13 straight meetings.
• Head coach Monica Wright is in her 18th year at Otterbein and boasts an all-time record of 371-185 at the helm of the Cardinals.
• Troyer ranks third all-time at Otterbein in career service aces (164) and fourth all-time in career digs (1,592).
• Vitaz has 1,622 career assists.
• Hoffman has 989 career kills.