TIFFIN -- No. 6-ranked Ohio Northern defeated Mount Union 25-27, 25-18, 25-20 in the semifinals of the 2009 Ohio Athletic Conference Volleyball Tournament Friday night at Heidelberg's Sieberling Gymnasium.

The third-seeded Polar Bears improve to 27-3, while the second-seeded Purple Raiders fall to 22-6.

ONU will advance to the OAC Tournament finals on Saturday at 2 pm against the winner of Friday night's second match between top-seeded and No. 19-ranked Heidelberg and fourth-seeded Otterbein.

Liz Schnelle led the Polar Bears with 16 kills. Sharon Guzik had nine kills, Kelly Smerekanichdished out 29 assists and Kasey Roeser had 23 digs to lead ONU.

Melissa Mahnke had seven kills to lead MUC.

The Polar Bear defense limited the Purple Raiders to a .031 hitting percentage on 27 kills and 23 errors in 129 attempts.

Northern hit .220 for the match with 43 kills and 15 errors on 127 attempts.

In game one, three consecutive kills by Schaller broke a 15-15 tie and sparked an 10-2 run as the Polar Bears took the opening set 25-17.

In Game 2, five consecutive points off the serve of Mahnke, two of which were on service aces, lifted MUC to an 11-6 advantage.

Game three started out mush like Game 2, with Mount Union taking leads of 3-0 and 7-4.

It was Lindsey Pruneski that turned the tide, keying a 8-0 run with a pair of kills and a solo block, as ONU took a 12-7 lead.

The Raiders rallied with a 6-1 run to tie the set at 13-all.

Again the Polar Bears responded, scoring the set's next five points to regain a 18-13 advantage.

Mount Union would pull within 18-16, but four kills by Schnelle extended the lead to 23-18.

But it was all Polar Bears from there, as ONU went on a 14-3 run to take a 20-14 lead and cruised to the 25-18 win in set two.

Schnelle had six kills, Schaller had four and Sharon Guzik added three as ONU hit .324 to .000 for the Purple Raiders in the opening frame.

The NCAA Division III Volleyball Tournament will get underway next week with eight, 8-team regionals Thursday-Saturday.