ALLIANCE, Ohio - No. 3 seed Mount Union held off No. 6 seed Otterbein in a five-set thriller Tuesday in the quarterfinals of the Ohio Athletic Conference Volleyball Tournament at the McPherson Academic and Athletic Complex.

Mount Union (19-8) defeated Otterbein (16-14) in five sets 20-25, 22-25, 25-18, 25-22, and 15-13 as the Purple Raiders advance to the semifinals for the ninth time over the last 10 seasons.

The Purple Raiders were led by Mallory Sliman (Amherst/Amherst Steele) who had a career high of 17 kills while Kyleigh Jackson (Galloway/Westland) and Caitlyn Synek(Independence/Independence) each added nine and eight kills respectively.

Riley Schenk (Lorain/Amherst Steele) led in assists with 36 and added seven kills while Allison Baird (North Royalton/North Royalton) led the defense with 25 digs with Kelly Johnson(McMurray, Pa./St. Peters Township) and Celia Barrett (University Heights/Hathaway Brown) each with 13 and 12 digs.

The Cardinals started off the first set on a 6-1 run. Otterbein kept a three point lead until a 7-0 service run by Morgan Chapman (Seven Fields, Pa./Seneca Valley) pushed the Raiders ahead by one point, 17-16. There were three ties, last one at 19, until the Cardinals took a lead. With three attack errors by Mount Union, Otterbein took the first set 25-20.

In the second set, Otterbein kept a lead on Mount Union until the Raiders tied up the game at eight. There were four ties in the match until the Cardinals took a two point lead on the Raiders, 14-16. Otterbein went up 20-15 with having three kills as Mount Union only had one kill and one error. Mount Union came within two points of the Cardinals, 22-24, but Otterbein finished the set off with a kill.

Mount Union came out strong in the third set with a 4-0 start. With a 4-0 service run from Baird and a 6-0 service run from Johnson, the Raiders kept their lead on the Cardinals the entire way, leading by no less than three points taking the set 25-18.

The fourth set started off close with a tie early in the set, 4-4. Mount Union took a lead with a 3-0 service run from Marlee Peck (Homeworth/Marlington) to put the Raiders up 7-5. Mount Union kept their lead the whole way, but the Cardinals didn't give up with a 5-0 service run to tie the game back up at 22. With an attack error by Otterbein and a kill by Sliman and Schenk, the Raiders took the set 25-22.

The Raiders went ahead 8-1 until the Cardinals went on a 9-3 run to trail Mount Union by one point, 11-10. The Raiders kept a two point lead the rest of the way with a big kill by Sabrina Ochoa (North Royalton/Padua) to finish the set 15-13.

Mount Union advances to face No. 2 seed Heidelberg in the semifinals Thursday, Nov. 3 at 7 p.m. in Tiffin.