No. 25 Volleyball falls to John Carroll in four sets despite match-high 15 kills from Ava Ehlinger
October 14, 2023
ADA — Senior Ava Ehlinger (New Carlisle/Tecumseh) had a match-high 15 kills, but No. 25-ranked Ohio Northern volleyball fell to John Carroll 26-24, 25-23, 14-25, 25-22 in an Ohio Athletic Conference contest Saturday afternoon at the ONU Sports Center.
The Basics
- Records: #25 Ohio Northern (12-7, 2-3 OAC), John Carroll (14-7, 3-2 OAC)
- Venue: ONU Sports Center, Ada, Ohio
Match Highlights
- Ehlinger had her second consecutive double-double with 15 kills and 12 digs to go with five blocks.
- Junior Erin Wagner (Massillon/Perry) added 12 kills.
- Junior Lauren James (Farmington Hills, Mich./North Farmington) had 11 kills and five blocks.
- Junior Sonia Dahlin (Minnetonka, Minn.) had 10 kills.
- Junior Rachel Jennings (Novi, Mich.) had 18 digs.
- Senior Grace Conrad (Somerset/Sheridan) had a team-best 24 assists to go with 18 digs.
- In the opening set, ONU held leads of 21-15 and 24-21, but JCU ended the set on a 5-0 run to grab a 26-24 win.
- The Polar Bears built a 16-12 lead in the second set, only to see the Blue Streaks rally for a 24-22 advantage. Wagner got a kill to get ONU within 24-23, but JCU would win on an attack error to go ahead two sets to none.
- Ohio Northern rolled in Set 3, going on runs of 8-0 and 11-1 to lead 22-11 en route to a 25-14 victory.
- In the fourth set, Northern used a 9-4 run to grab a 13-11 lead. The match was tied at 21-all when John Carroll finished with a 4-1 run to grab a 25-22 set win.
- The Polar Bears hit .263 with 58 kills, while the Blue Streaks hit .220 with 56 kills.
Notables
- Jennings has 1,441 career digs, and is now 24 away from joining ONU's all-time top 10 in that category.
- Conrad has 1,649 career assists. She is just 133 assists away from joining ONU's top-10 list in the category.
- Wagner ranks seventh all-time in ONU's top-10 list for hitting percentage, hitting .297 to date.
- ONU leads the all-time series with John Carroll by a 48-7 margin. ONU is now 26-3 in home matches.
- Sophie Windover is now 12-7 in her first season as head coach of the ONU volleyball team.
Up Next
- The Polar Bears return to action on Wednesday when they travel to OAC foe Wilmington for a 7 p.m. contest.