No. 10 Ohio Northern advances to Sweet 16 with sweep of #19 Hiram in Second Round of NCAA Tournament

By Tim Glon

SPRINGFIELD — Tenth-ranked Ohio Northern advanced to the NCAA Division III Tournament "Sweet 16" with a 30-22, 30-24, 30-17 victory over No. 19 Hiram Friday evening at Wittenberg's HPER Center.

The second-seeded Polar Bears (29-6) advance to the Great Lakes Regional finals on Saturday at 7 pm against No. 1 ranked Wittenberg, who swept Heidelberg in the other regional semifinal contest on Friday.

The third-seeded Terriers end their season with a 28-6 record.

The victory marks the eighth "Sweet 16" appearance for the Polar Bears under 17th-year head coach Kate Witte. Northern also improves to 29-23 in 24 NCAA Tournament appearances and is 18-14 under Witte.

Liz Schnelle had 18 kills, Laura Vuyk added 17 kills for Ohio Northern.

The Polar Bears hit a blistering .376 for the match, including .515 in the third game, while holding Hiram to a .182 hitting percentage.

"This was a complete team victory over an outstanding opponent," ONU head coach Kate Witte said. "We played very on offense and defense. This performance is more rewarding because it was against a very strong team. As we advance in the tournament, we need to continue to play better in each match. Tomorrow night will be an extremely difficult challenge."

Samntha Markham had eight kills, Katie Weininger dished out 45 assists and Amanda Fought had 17 digs for ONU.

In Game 1, Northern steadily pulled away for a 30-22 victory.

ONU used an 8-3 run to turn a 7-6 deficit into a 14-10 lead. Another 8-3 run extended the lead from 18-16 to 26-19 and put the opening game away.

Schnelle and Markham each had five kills for the Polar Bears in the opening game.

In Game 2, Vuyk drilled seven kills and Schnelle had six kills as ONU won 30-24.

Leading 19-18, Schnelle keyed a 5-0 run with a pair of kills and a block to give the Polar Bears a 24-18 lead.

After the Terriers had rallied to within 26-24, Markham capped a 4-0 run with a kill to give ONU a two-games to none lead.

In Game 3, Schnelle had three kills and block to spur a 7-0 run to put the Polar Bears up 17-10.

ONU would outscore Hiram 13-7 the rest of the way to post the victory.

Schnelle and Vuyk drilled seven kills apiece in Game 3 to pace the Polar Bears.