Volleyball wraps up regular season with 5-set victory over Denison, 5-set loss to Wittenberg

SPRINGFIELD — Sophomores Kate Zellers (Monroeville, Ind./Heritage) and Katie Floyd (Swanton) and freshman Taylor Craft (Defiance/Ayresville) all had career nights as the Ohio Northern volleyball team wrapped up its regular season schedule with a 5-set victory over Denison and a 5-set loss to Wittenberg on Friday night. 

The Basics

• Wittenberg defeated Ohio Northern 25-21, 19-25, 25-17, 21-25, 15-6 in the first match of the night.
• Ohio Northern defeated Denison 21-25, 25-22, 20-25, 25-19, 15-12 in the final match of the evening.
• Heidelberg defeated Denison 3-0 and Wittenberg defeated Heidelberg 3-2 in the other two matches of the night.
• Records: Ohio Northern (20-8 Overall), Wittenberg (15-9 Overall), Denison (12-13 Overall).
• Venue: Pam Evans Smith Center - Springfield, Ohio.

Wittenberg Match Highlights

• Craft had a career-high 10 kills in the opening match.
• Sophomore Olivia Baumann (Eaton) had 13 kills and 13 digs to lead Ohio Northern.
• Senior Sonia Dahlin (Minnetonka, Minn.) added 10 kills.
• Freshman Summer Hoying (Fort Loramie) had 5 kills, 3 blocks and 16 digs.
• Senior Rachel Jennings (Novi, Mich.) had 24 digs.
• Senior Grace Conrad (Somerset/Sheridan) had 34 assists.
• Wittenberg was led by Alana Bartulovic with 18 kills.
• The Polar Bears hit .163 for the match with 54 kills, while the Tigers hit .201 with 63 kills in the match.

Denison Match Highlights

• Zellers had a career-high 11 kills to lead the Polar Bears.
• Senior Lauren James (Farmington Hills, Mich./North Farmington) also had 11 kills and seven blocks.
• Floyd chipped in a career-high 10 kills.
• Baumann and Dahlin also had 10 kills each.
• Jennings had 31 digs.
• Conrad had 43 assists.
• Denison was led by Claire Hamilton with 22 kills.
• The Polar Bears hit .222 for the match with 61 kills, while the Big Red hit .186 with 68 kills in the match.

 Notables

• Wittenberg leads the all-time series with Ohio Northern by a 34-33 margin.
• Ohio Northern leads the all-time series against DU by a 26-3 margin. 
• James is 5th all-time in ONU history with 370 total blocks and is tied for 8th with 86 block solos in 99 career matches.
• Jennings has 2,074 career digs in 106 career matches and remains No. 5 on ONU's all-time top 10 list in that category.
• Jennings entered the 2024 season ranked eighth nationally in digs among active Division III players.
• Conrad is eighth on ONU's all-time career assist list with 2,577 in 106 career matches.
• Senior Erin Wagner (Massillon/Perry) did not play due to an injury. She ranks fourth all-time in ONU's top-10 list for hitting percentage, hitting .330 in 99 career matches.
• She also has 1,186 career kills is 10th all-time in ONU history in that category.
• Sophie Windover is now 36-18 in her two seasons as head coach of the ONU volleyball team, a winning percentage of .667.

Up Next

• The Polar Bears will begin the Ohio Athletic Conference Tournament with a quarterfinal match at John Carroll at 7 p.m. Tuesday.