#15 Volleyball rallies past #25 Muskingum for thrilling 5-set victory in OAC opener

By Tim Glon

ADA — No. 15-ranked Ohio Northern rallied past No. 25 Muskingum 25-20, 11-25, 28-30, 25-19, 15-9 in the Ohio Athletic Conference volleyball opener for both teams Tuesday night at the ONU Sports Center.

The Polar Bears (11-3 overall, 1-0 OAC) got a season-high 21 kills from senior All-American Chelsea Huppert (Bremen, Ind.) and a season-high 16 kills from senior McKenna Jordan (Toledo/St. Ursula) in the come-from-behind victory.

The Muskies (13-2, 0-1) had four players in double figures in kills, led by Brooke Featheree with 18.

The victory marks the 26th consecutive season that ONU won its OAC opener.

In the opening set, Ohio Northern used a late 6-0 run to take a 22-17 lead en route to the 25-20 victory.

The Muskies hit a blistering .386 in Set 2 with 18 kills on only one error to even the match with a 25-11 win.

MU took a 2-1 lead with a 30-28 victory in set three, a set in which neither team led by more than three points at any point.

Northern served for the set on three occasions, at 25-24, 27-26 and 28-27, but the Muskies scored the final three points to win 30-28.

ONU cranked up the offense in the fourth and fifth sets, hitting .373 the rest of the way with 27 kills on 59 attempts.

In the fourth set, Ohio Northern used a 4-1 run to grab a 15-10 lead. A 3-0 run extended the lead to 19-12 and the Polar Bears cruised from there to win 25-19.

Northern raced to a 6-1 lead in the fifth set, led by two Huppert kills. MU rallied to within 6-4, but kills from freshman Megan Mahon (Amelia/West Clermont) and Huppert extended the lead to 8-4.

Huppert's 21st kill ended the match at 15-9. The ONU defense limited the Muskies to -.056 hitting in the final set with four kills and five errors on 18 attempts.

Sophomore Kiki Carle (Cincinnati/Mother of Mercy) dished out a career-high 55 assists and senior McKenna Hostetler (Plain City/Alder) had 30 digs for ONU.

Ohio Northern finished the match hitting .205 with 71 kills and 26 errors on 219 attempts, while Muskingum hit .215 with 70 kills and 24 errors on 214 attempts.

The Polar Bears will return to action Thursday night when they host Earlham (Ind.) in a 7 pm non-conference contest at the ONU Sports Center.