(UNIVERSITY HEIGHTS, OH)--Mount Union's volleyball team beat John Carroll in three-straight (26-24, 25-23, 25-9) Tuesday night in an Ohio Athletic Conference match at the DeCarlo Varsity Center in University Heights.
The win makes Mount Union 21-4 overall and at 7-1 in the OAC and with one match left puts them a first place tie with Heidelberg, who was upset 3-1 at Otterbein. It sets up a winner take all regular season finale when The Berg plays at Mount Union Saturday at 1 pm at The MAAC in Alliance.
The Blue Streaks (11-16 overall, 3-5 OAC) had a pair of six-point leads early on in game one (9-3 and 11-5), but could not hold off the Purple Raiders. Mount Union held a 24-21 lead, but JCU rallied with three straight points -- one on a Meredith McDiarmid kill and two on Purple Raiders hitting errors -- to pull even at 24-24. But Mount used kills by Deanna Glass (Medina/Medina) and Roni Schroeder (Shelby/Shelby) to win the final two points.
Game two had a similar start as John Carroll scored six of the first seven points and actually led 10-3. But the Purple Raiders would gather themselves and pull ahead 20-16. Again, Mount would have game point at 24-21, but McDiarmid had two consecutive successful attacks to bring JCU within a point. But Leah Hirsch (Frankfort/Adena) finished off the frame with an emphatic kill for the 25-23 win.
Game three was never in doubt, as four service aces by Julie Radigan (Olmsted Falls/Olmsted Falls) staked Mount Union an 8-0 lead. The Purple Raiders won by a 16-point margin to complete the sweep.
Mount Union (21-4, 6-1 OAC) was led by Radigan, who had 19 assists, nine digs and six aces. Sarah Parker (Geneva/Geneva) and Melissa Mahnke (North Royalton/North Royalton) each had eight kills as the Purple Raiders held on to sole possession of second place in the league standings.
