No. 23 Volleyball sweeps Marietta 25-9, 25-14, 25-12 in Quarterfinals of OAC Tournament
By Tim Glon
ADA — No. 23-ranked Ohio Northern advanced to the semifinals of the Ohio Athletic Conference Volleyball Tournament with a 25-9, 25-14, 25-11 victory over Marietta in a quarterfinal match Tuesday evening at the ONU Sports Center.
The Polar Bears (25-3) are the No. 1 seed and will now host a semifinal match on Thursday night at 7 pm against fifth-seeded Baldwin Wallace.
Northern also extended its winning streak to 17 matches.
It marks the 32nd time in the 33-year history of the tournament that Ohio Northern has advanced to the semifinal round.
Marietta ends its season with a 17-16 record.
Freshman Chelsea Huppert (Bremen, Ind.) had nine kills and hit an impressive .600 and freshman McKenna Jordan (Toledo/Saint Ursula) had eight kills to lead the ONU offense.
Northern took command from the onset, racing to a 9-2 lead in Set 1. Leading 15-7, ONU scored 10 of the final 12 points to grab the set 25-9.
In set two, ONU scored six straight points to turn an 8-5 lead into a 14-5 advantage.
A 9-2 run in Set 3 put Ohio Northern in command early at 15-5. The Polar Bears would score the final four points to close out the match.
Ohio Northern hit .357 for the match with 33 kills and just three errors on 84 attempts, while the Pioneers hit .-037 with 23 kills, 27 errors and 107 attempts.
Senior Ashley Borchers (Russia) dished out 25 assists and had nine digs, freshman McKenna Hostetler (Plain City/Alder) had a team-high 14 digs for ONU.
The Polar Bears earned the top seed in the tournament by winning their 23rd OAC Regular Season title with a 9-0 record.
