Senior Megan Nieszala named All-Tournament team as No. 22 Volleyball splits on final day of ONU Invitational

By Caleb Scott

ADA — Ohio Northern senior Megan Nieszala (Lambertville, Mich./St. Marys Catholic Central) was named to the All-Tournament team to lead the No. 22-ranked Ohio Northern women's volleyball team as went 1-1 on the final day of the 39th Annual ONU Invitational at the ONU Sports Center.

The Polar Bears improve to 3-1 overall.

Northern opened day two of the tournament with a battle against Carnegie Mellon (Pa.) and dropped a very competitive contest, 3-2.

Sophomore McKenna Jordan (Toledo/St. Ursula) led the way offensively in the contest with 22 kills and added nine digs.

Sophomore Chelsea Huppert (Bremen, Ind.) added 14 kills and five blocks, while sophomore Sydney Bapst (Grove City) chipped in 12 kills. 

Freshman setter Katie Wade (Battle Creek, Mich./Harper Creek) posted a career-best 54 assists in the contest and also a career-high 17 digs, while four other Polar Bears posted double-digit digs as Nieszala recorded a team-high 30 digs, junior Michaela Sharlow (Tiffin/Columbian) added 23 digs, sophomore McKenna Hostetler (Plain City/Alder) recorded 22 digs and sophomore Kristin Langston (Versailles) added 12 digs.

After taking control of the game early with a 25-22 victory in the first set, Northern dropped the second set 27-25.

Back-to-back attack errors by CMU would allow Northern to take a 23-21 edge late in the set, before the Tartans used a 4-0 run to take a 2-1 lead in the contest.

Northern wasted no time taking the lead in the fourth set, as it jumped out to a 9-3 lead behind three kills from Huppert.

After CMU battled back to within 22-21, Northern closed the set on a 3-1 run as Jordan finished the set with back-to-back kills to seal the set four victory.

ONU found itself in a 5-2 hole in the winner-take-all fifth set, before battling back to take a 12-10 lead.

From there, CMU would close the contest out on a 5-0 run to claim the victory.

in the second contest, Jordan led the way with 13 kills, while Huppert chipped in 12 kills, while hitting .421 percent.

Wade added 36 assists and Nieszala and Hostetler led the team with 16 each.

Northern would take a commanding 2-0 lead after winning the first two sets 25-15 and 25-14.

TMC would jump out to a 3-0 lead in the third set before an 8-1 run led by Huppert's three kills and Jordan's two kills allowed ONU to take an 8-4 lead.

The Saints would keep the contest close and take a 20-19 lead late in the set before Northern used a 6-0 run capped off by a Huppert kill to seal the game two victory.

The Polar Bears will return to action Friday, Sept. 8 as they travel to Bloomington, Ill. to compete in the Illinois Wesleyan Invitational and take on No. 21-ranked Elmhurst (Ill.) at 6 pm.