ALLIANCE, Ohio— Mount Union's women's volleyball team fell 25-22, 25-22 and 25-23 at home against Otterbein in a rematch of last year's Ohio Athletic Conference championship Friday night.
Mount Union (10-6, 0-1 OAC) was led by senior
Alexis Meyer (Avon Lake) with 10 kills and four blocks.
Heaven Bartell (Cleveland / St. Joseph Academy) finished the night with nine kills while
Cami Welty (Eastlake / Eastlake North) finished with four blocks.
Casey Kildow (Bethesda / Union Local) led Mount Union in assists with 15 while
Averi Haley (Orrville) had a game-high 21 digs with
Katelyn Lesko (Mineral Ridge) and
Sam Cantrell (Eastlake / Eastlake North) finished with 16 and 12 digs.
Otterbein (12-5, 2-0 OAC) was led by Emerson Baum with 12 kills while Olivia Vitaz had 19 assists and Amanda Troyer and Ashley Kefauver finished with 14 digs.
SET ONE
Mount Union jumped out early to a 10-5 lead thanks to a 5-0 run where Bartell had two kills a service ace from Cantrell and a kill from Welty. Otterbein took a 13-12 advantage with a 6-1 run. Both teams traded points back and forth until point 16 where finished off the set on a 9-6 run scoring the final two points.
SET TWO
Otterbein got off to a 4-2 lead but Mount Union got a block from Welty and Meyer and Otterbein committed two hitting errors for Mount Union to take a 5-4 lead. Both teams traded points back and forth as Mount Union got a 6-1 run as Meyer had two kills taking a 13-9 lead. Otterbein battled back to take a 16-15 lead which Mount Union responded with a 3-1 run to take an 18-17 lead. Both teams tied the score at 18, 19, 20 and 21 but a 5-1 run for Otterbein ended the set.
SET THREE
Like the first two sets Mount Union got an early lead at 6-4 with another service ace from Cantrell and a block from Bartell. Mount Union got its largest lead of 14-9 on a kill from Meyer. Otterbein responded with a 14-3 run to take a 23-17 lead. Mount Union would not go down without a fight scoring the next five points to get within one, but Otterbein finished off the set on a 2-1 run to take the match.
Mount Union will be back in action at home tomorrow as they take on Westminster (Pa.) at 11 am and Carlow (Pa.) at 3 pm.