Gillespie's 15 kills leads Volleyball to 4-set victory at Baldwin Wallace

By Tim Glon

BEREA -- Sophomore Ellie Gillespie had a match-high 15 kills to lead the Ohio Northern volleyball team to a 25-17, 20-25, 25-16, 25-20 victory at Baldwin Wallace on Saturday at Ursprung Gymnasium.

The Polar Bears improve to 13-7 overall and are 2-1 in Ohio Athletic Conference play, while the Yellow Jackets fall to 8-13, 1-2.

Gillespie also had 20 digs to go with her 15 kills, to lead ONU.

Freshman Kristin Sessler had 10 kills and a team-high 28 digs for Ohio Northern.

BW was led by Colleen Bonacci with 14 kills and Markema Winters with 13 kills.

In the first set, ONU used a 5-1 run to take an early 10-6 lead, then scored five straight points to take control at 19-10.

In Set 2, the Yellow Jackets scored seven consecutive points to take a 14-8 lead. ONU would pull within 15-12, but BW would hold off the rally and even the match at 1-1.

A 7-1 run by ONU, keyed by kills from Gillespie and freshman Claire Heitkamp and an ace from senior Jeni Kmic, staked ONU to a 17-9 lead in Set 3.

In Set 4, the Polar Bears got three consecutive kills from Sessler to put ONU ahead 19-16.

Kills by Gillespie and sophomore Anna Ricker extended the lead to 23-17 and a kill by Ricker ended the match four points later.

Northern hit .181 with 51 kills, while BWC hit .119 with 48 kills.

The Polar Bears will return to action Tuesday night at No. 14-ranked Otterbein at the ONU Sports Center.