NEW CONCORD, Ohio— Junior outside hitter Heaven Bartell (Cleveland / St. Joseph Academy) picked up a career-high 28 digs along with 13 kills in a five-set win over Muskingum Wednesday night at the Anne C. Steele Center.
 
The Purple Raiders (16-6, 4-2 OAC) were led by junior outside hitter Darby Leininger (Chardon / Beaumont) with a season-high 18 kills on a hitting percentage of .375% and four blocks.
 
Junior middle blocker Alexis Meyer (Avon Lake) finished the night with nine kills and no hitting errors with five blocks while freshman middle hitter Ava Bolen (Wellsburg, W. Va / Brooke) finished with six blocks.
 
Junior setter Casey Kildow (Bethesda / Union Local) finished with 26 assists and 13 digs while freshman setter Melissa Hansen (Hudson) finished with 24 assists and 18 digs.
 
Bartell led Mount Union in digs with 28, freshman libero Averi Haley (Orrville) finished with 25 digs and senior defensive specialist Adrian Petrisko (Elyria) had 12 digs.
 
Muskingum (5-14, 2-4 OAC) was led by Mackenzie Krous with 25 kills, Chole Burton had 29 assists and 24 digs.
 
SET 1
After a back and forth start to the first seven points Mount Union went on a 3-0 run with sophomore right side hitter Sydney Mercer (Salem / West Branch) picking up all three kills taking a 6-4 lead. Muskingum proceed to go on a 15-6 run to grab a 19-10 lead. A block from Bolen brought the lead to within seven at 19-12 but Muskingum finished off the set on a 6-3 run.
 
SET 2
Mount Union fired back in the second set starting 5-2 with Bolen igniting the run with a kill and a block. Muskingum tied the game up at five but then a 5-1 run from Mount Union pushed the lead out to 10-6. Muskingum closed to within two twice at 11-9 and 14-12 but Mount Union finished the set off with a 11-2 run which saw seven kills come from Leininger.
 
SET 3
Mount Union kept the momentum going in the third set scoring the first six points and taking an early 9-3 lead over Muskingum. Muskingum fought back to get within three at 11-8 but two quick Mount Union points pushed the lead back to 13-8. Both teams battled back and forth until Muskingum went on a 7-0 run to take a 17-14 lead. Muskingum kept the lead pushing it to 21-18 but a 4-0 run which included a kill from Leininger and freshman right side hitter Sadie Thomas (Cambridge Springs, Pa. / Maplewood) along with a block from Thomas and Meyer gave Mount Union a 22-21 lead.  Muskingum tied the game up at 22 but Mount Union finished off the set on a 3-1 run which was finished by a Bartell kill.
 
SET 4
Muskingum began the set with a 6-2 lead but two kills from Leininger and two blocks from Meyer tied the set up at six. Both teams battle back in forth with neither team getting up by more than two until a 6-0 run from Muskingum gave them a 21-17 lead. Mount Union battled back to 21-19 with a kill from Bartell and Bolen but could not stop the hitting of Muskingum as they finished the set off on a 4-1 run.
 
SET 5
The final set saw five ties at points one through five, but Mount Union once again got a kill from Bolen and Leininger to get going on a 4-0 run to lead 9-5. Muskingum got within one point on a 4-1 run but Mount Union finished on a 5-2 run with a Meyer kill finishing off the match.
 
Mount Union will return home taking on Wilmington on Saturday, October 21st with a 1 PM start time. The Raiders will hold senior day honoring their three seniors before the match at 12:50 PM.