Volleyball goes 2-0 on Saturday to close out Berry (Ga.) Invitational

By Wes Mayberry 

MOUNT BERRY, Ga. — The Ohio Northern volleyball team closed out its slate in the Berry (Ga.) Invitational on Saturday with a 3-1 win over Covenant (Ga.) and a 3-0 victory over Oglethorpe (Ga.) at the Cage Center.

The Polar Bears (5-2 overall) went 2-1 in the event after falling 3-0 to No. 11 Berry (Ga.) on Friday.

Northern opened play Saturday with a 22-25, 25-16, 25-18, 25-22 win over Covenant (1-6 overall).

The Polar Bears followed that with a 26-24, 25-19, 25-10 sweep of Oglethorpe (5-2 overall).

In Northern's first game of the day, the Scots jumped out to a 6-1 lead in the opening set, but the Polar Bears fought back to eventually take a 16-15 lead on an ace from sophomore Sonia Dahlin (Minnetonka, Minn.), who was named to the All-Tournament Team.

Neither team led by more than three points for the remainder of the set, which Covenant went on to win 25-22.

Northern stormed out to an 18-7 lead in the second set en route to the 25-16 victory and closed the third set on a 7-2 run for the 25-18 win.

The teams played to a 20-all tie in the fourth set before ONU closed out the match on a 5-2 run capped by a kill from junior Kaidie Carstensen (Raymond/Fairbanks).

Sophomore Erin Wagner (Massillon/Perry) led the Polar Bears with 16 kills to go with 13 from junior Ava Ehlinger (New Carlisle/Tecumseh), 12 from fifth-year senior Melina Woods (Ada) and 11 from Dahlin.

Sophomore Grace Conrad (Somerset/Sheridan) tallied 44 assists, and sophomore Rachel Jennings (Novi, Mich.) had a team-best 15 digs for Northern.

Emma Kalbfleisch led the Scots with 10 kills.

Northern hit .237 in the match with 60 kills and 19 errors. Covenant hit .186 with 41 kills and 12 errors.

ONU opened its sweep of Oglethorpe by taking a 16-11 edge in the first set, but the Stormy Petrels came back to tie the score at 18-all.

An Oglethorpe service error later tied the score at 24-all, and Northern scored the final two points to take the set, capping it with an ace from Dahlin.

The Polar Bears opened up a 22-13 lead in the second set and went on to win 25-19 on a kill from sophomore Lauren James (Farmington Hills, Mich./North Farmington).

Northern made easy work of the third set to close out the sweep, taking a 20-8 lead en route to the 25-10 victory.

Carstensen and Dahlin led ONU with 16 and 10 kills, respectively.

Conrad added a career-high 45 assists to go with 18 digs from Jennings and five blocks from Wagner.

Jackie Schner led Oglethorpe with 12 kills.

ONU hit .343 with 50 kills and 14 errors. Oglethorpe hit .100 with 29 kills and 19 errors.

The Polar Bears return to action on Wednesday at Bluffton at 7 p.m.