Volleyball opens 2013 campaign with pair of victories in 35th Annual ONU Invitational

By Tim Glon

| ONU Invitational Site |

ADA — The Ohio Northern volleyball team opened its 2013 season with a pair of victories on the first day of the 35th Annual ONU Invitational on a hot and muggy Friday at the ONU Sports Center.

The Polar Bears (2-0) started the day with a convincing 25-14, 25-11, 25-19 victory over St. Mary's (Ind.) Friday afternoon.

Northern then rallied from a 2 sets to 1 deficit to edge DePauw (Ind.) 25-19, 18-25, 20-25, 25-17, 15-10 Friday evening.

Against St. Mary's (1-1), ONU controlled play throughout the first two sets, building large early leads.

Northern scored the first four points of the match and quickly led 7-2 before scoring six of the last seven points to win 25-14.

In Set 2, ONU raced to leads of 6-0, 9-1 and 13-2 and were never threatened.

The third set was tightly contested, but a late 5-0 run gave the Polar Bears a 23-17 advantage and they closed out the match up 25-19.

Sophomores Ellie Gillespie and Kaitlann Hogrefe led a balanced ONU attack with seven kills each.

Sophomore Heather Saunier had 25 assists and freshman Kristin Sessler had 16 digs in her collegiate debut.

Against DePauw, Northern used a 7-0 run to turn a 13-10 lead into a commanding 20-10 advantage.

But the Tigers (0-1) battled back and controlled much of Sets 2 and 3, winning 25-18 and 25-20.

With the fourth set tied at 12-12, Northern went on a 7-2 advantage to go up 19-14.

A kill by sophomore Anna Ricker, a kill by Saunier and three kills by freshman Claire Heitkamp would close out the match for ONU and set up a fifth and deciding set.

With the score tied at 7-7, a kill by Saunier, a DePauw attack error and a service ace by Sessler sparked a key 3-0 run that would give ONU the lead for good.

DU pulled within 10-9, but the Polar Bears would slam the door, scoring five of the match's final six points to seal the deal.

Gillespie had 14 kills and a team-best 16 digs, freshman Kelli Weininger had 11 kills, Saunier had a career-high 11 kills and a career-best 45 assists and Sessler had 16 digs for ONU.

The Polar Bears will play host to Thiel (Pa.) at 10 am on Saturday and will wrap up tournament play against Ohio Athletic Conference rival Heidelberg at Noon on Saturday.