Volleyball falls in four sets to No. 12 Otterbein in OAC Tournament semifinals
By Tim Glon
| OAC Volleyball Tournament Site |
ALLIANCE -- Ohio Northern was eliminated by No. 12-ranked Otterbein 25-20, 22-25, 25-22, 25-19 in the semifinals of the 2012 Ohio Athletic Conference Volleyball Tournament Friday night at Mount Union's MAAC gymnasium.
The third-seeded Polar Bears fall to 24-6 overall, while the Cardinals improve to 25-7.
Otterbein advances to the OAC Tournament Finals Saturday at 2 pm at the MAAC against either top-seeded and No. 10-ranked Mount Union or fifth-seeded Heidelberg.
ONU must now wait until Monday at 11 am to see if they receive an at-large bid to the NCAA III Tournament.
Senior Ellen Grenert had 14 kills and junior Kristen Davidson had 11 kills to lead Ohio Northern.
Senior Kelsie Zumberger dished out 42 assists and junior Jeni Kmic had a team-high 22digs for the Polar Bears.
Otterbein was led by Annie Juenger with 14 kills.
In Set 1, Grenert had five kills, including three of ONU's first four points of the game.
ONU used a 4-0 run to take a 16-14 lead, but OU would later score six consecutive points to break an 18-18 tie and go up 24-18.
Set 2 was a tight affair, with the score being tied at 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21 and 22-all.
Kills by Davidson and freshman Ellie Gillespie gave the Polar Bears a 24-22 lead and a hitting error by Otterbein gave ONU a 25-22 win.
In Set 3, Otterbein went on a 5-1 run to go ahead 17-12, but the Polar Bears battled back to within 21-20 on back-to-back aces by Zumberger.
Northern tied the set at 22-all on a kill by Davidson, but OU scored the final three points of the match to win 25-22.
The Cardinals jumped to a quick 10-4 lead in Set 4. ONU would pull within four points on several occasions, but a 4-1 run gave Otterbein a 22-15 lead and OU would hold on to win the match.
Northern his .171 for the match with 49 kills on 158 attempts, while Otterbein hit .253 on 54 kills on 146 attempts.
OU finished the match with 11 blocks to just three for ONU.