No. 10 Ohio Northern opens NCAA Tournament with dominating victory over Webster (Mo.)

By Tim Glon

SPRINGFIELD — Tenth-ranked Ohio Northern opened the NCAA Division III Great Lakes Regional Volleyball Tournament with a dominating 30-18, 30-20, 30-17 victory over Webster (Mo.) Thursday afternoon at Wittenberg's HPER Center.

The second-seeded Polar Bears (28-6) advance to the second round and will face No. 19-ranked and third-seeded Hiram on Friday at 4:30 pm.

The regional finals will be Saturday at 7 pm.

The seventh-seeded Gorlocks end their season at 25-10.

Liz Schnelle had 14 kills and five blocks, All-American Laura Vuyk had 11 kills, 12 digs and three aces, Katie Weininger had 43 assits and Amanda Fought had 24 digs for the Polar Bears.

Schnelle also set Ohio Northern's single-season kills record. Her 14 kills gives her 540 for the season, bettering the previous mark of 529 set by Megan Earley in 2001.

Northern controlled play from the outset, racing to a 10-2 lead in Game 1 on four kills by Vuyk and two by Schnelle.

After the Gorlocks pulled within 13-8, ONU went on a 9-2 run to take a commanding 22-9 advantage.

In Game 2, the Polar Bears led 11-3 early and cruised to the 30-20 win.

Game 3 was more of the same as ONU raced to a quick 8-1 lead and were never threatened.

"This was a good start for us," ONU head coach Kate Witte said. "We were very good on offense and were solid on defense for the most part. Tomorrow's match will be much more difficult and we will need to play well to win."

Ohio Northern improves to 20-4 in first round matches of the NCAA Tournament and now has a 28-23 record in 24 tournament appearances overall.

The Polar Bears hit .355 for the game and held Webster to a .042 hitting percentage.

Jackie Schall had eight kills for the Gorlocks.