HOLLAND, Mich. — The Otterbein volleyball team took No. 2 Hope (Mich.) to five sets and fell to No. 1 Juniata (Pa.) in three sets on Saturday to close out its difficult three-match schedule in the Hope College September Tournament. In the down-to-the-wire first match, the Cardinals fell 18-25, 26-24, 19-25, 25-22, 12-15 to Hope and proceeded to drop an 18-25, 19-25, 12-25 match to Juniata.
The Basics
- Records: Otterbein (6-4 overall), #2 Hope (8-1 overall), #1 Juniata (8-0 overall)
- Venue: DeVos Fieldhouse - Holland, Mich.
Otterbein Stat Leaders vs. Hope
Match Highlights vs. Hope
- Hope opened the first set by scoring five of the first six points. The Cardinals later used a 6-2 run to cut an 11-4 deficit to 13-10, getting two kills from Hoffman and one each from Baum and Kefauver. A kill from junior Maddie Mergen brought Otterbein within two, 18-16, but Hope answered with three straight points en route to taking the set 25-18.
- Otterbein rebounded to win a tightly contested second set after trailing 12-6. The Cardinals followed with an 8-0 run highlighted by two kills from Baum and one each from Kefauver, Troyer and senior Hope Cuppett to go with an ace from Schram to take a 14-12 lead. The set later featured tie scores at 18, 19, 20, 21, 22 and 24 before the Cardinals clinched the set with two straight points via kills from Cuppett and Schram.
- With the score tied at 7-all in the third set, the Flying Dutch put together a 10-2 run for a 17-9 lead en route to the 25-19 victory.
- Hope opened up an 18-13 edge in the fourth set, but a 4-0 Cardinal run, speaheaded by kills from Hoffman and Mergen, got the visitors back within one. After the Flying Dutch added a point, the Cardinals scored three straight points via Hope attack errors for a 20-19 lead. Up 23-22, Otterbein clinched the set with consecutive kills from junior Kayla Lechnir and Schram to force the match to the deciding fifth set.
- A back-and-forth fifth set featured nine tie scores, the last of which came at 12-all. Hoffman led Otterbein up to that point with four kills. A pair of Otterbein attack errors gave Hope a match-point opportunity, and the Flying Dutch capitalized with a kill to win the match.
- Otterbein finished with 60 kills while hitting .202, and Hope finished with 72 kills while hitting .237.
Otterbein Stat Leaders vs. Juniata
- Mergen and Baum led the Cardinals in kills with five each. Baum added three blocks.
- Troyer tallied a team-high 14 digs.
- Schram posted a team-best 11 assists.
Match Highlights vs. Juniata
- Juniata opened up a 16-6 lead in the first set, but Otterbein scored four of the next five points to cut the deficit to seven, 17-10. The Cardinals got within six at 24-18, but Juniata scored the next point to win the set.
- A kill from Baum put Otterbein up 8-7 in the second set, but Juniata scored the next eight points for a 15-8 edge en route to the 25-19 victory.
- Juniata led 15-5Â to open the third set en route to clinching the match with a 25-12 win.
- Otterbein finished with 21 kills while hitting .030, and Juniata finished with 42 kills while hitting .283.
Notables
- Otterbein's three opponents in the Hope College September Tournament were all ranked inside the top six nationally in NCAA Division III in this week's AVCA/TARAFLEX Poll. The Cardinals faced No. 6 Wisconsin-Oshkosh on Friday. Juniata and Hope are the reigning national champion and runner-up, respectively.
- Otterbein received 55 points in this week's poll after totaling 134 points and sitting just outside the top 25 last week.
- Head coach Monica Wright is in her 18th year at Otterbein and boasts an all-time record of 360-181 at the helm of the Cardinals.
- Troyer ranks sixth all-time at Otterbein in career service aces (132) and ninth all-time in career digs (1,326).
- Vitaz has 1,150 career assists.
- Hoffman has 804Â career kills.
