No. 15 Ohio Northern wins 29th annual ONU Invitational with 4-0 mark

By Tim Glon

ADA — No.15-ranked Ohio Northern won the 29th annual ONU Invitational with a perfect 4-0 record Friday and Saturday at the ONU Sports Center.

The Polar Bears clinched their 11th tournament title with a 30-23, 30-21, 33-35, 21-30, 15-7 win over the Carnegie Mellon (Pa.) and a 30-22, 30-16, 30-15 victory over Wooster on Saturday.

Earlier on Friday, ONU swept Hope (Mich.) and downed Mount Saint Joseph in five games.

Against Carnegie Mellon (Pa.) sophomore Liz Schnelle again led ONU on offense, registering 22 kills to go with five blocks. That effort followed her career-best 31-kill effort Friday night.

Senior All-American Laura Vuyk had her second double-double of the young year with 12 kills and 17 digs.

In the Wooster match, Schnelle had 14 kills, freshman Abby Schaller added a career-high 11 kills and freshman Melissa Goodman chipped in 10 kills for ONU.

Schnelle finished the tournament with 83 kills in four matches.

In Game 1 against CM, Northern used a 6-1 run to turn a 17-17 tie into a 23-18 lead.

In Game 2, Northern used a 7-0 run to take a 15-10 lead and went on to the 30-21 win.

Neither team led by more than three points in Game 3 and the Tartans served for the game on four different occasions before finally coming away with a 35-33 decision to pull within two games to one.

Carnegie Mellon dominated Game 4, using a 7-0 run to take a quick 9-3 lead, then went on an 8-0 run to go up 19-6.

ONU used a 3-0 run to go up 7-3 in the deciding fifth game, then scored six of the last seven points to put it away with a 15-7 victory.

Against Wooster, ONU used three different 3-0 runs to build a 19-12 advantage. CW would go on a 6-1 run to close within 20-18, but Northern would answer with a 7-1 run of its own to take command again at 27-19.

The Polar Bears dominated Game 2 from the onset, scoring the first six points and racing to an 11-1 lead. Later, a 5-0 run expanded the lead to an impressive 27-13.

In the third and final game, Wooster scored the first four points, but ONU scored the enxt six to go up 6-4. A 9-0 run, keyed by three Vuyk aces, broke a 9-9 tie and gave the Polar Bears the lead for good at 18-9.

ONU would score the final six points to wrap up Game 3 30-15.

Schnelle was named Most Valuable Player for the invitational while Samantha Markham and Mandi Fought were also named to the All-Tournament Team.

ONU will return to action Friday and Saturday at the Washington (Mo.) National Invitational in Saint Louis.