No. 15 Ohio Northern has rough start to the Washington (Mo.) Invitational

By Gary Petit

ST. LOUIS, Mo. — No. 15 Ohio Northern lost twice on the opening day of the Washington (Mo.) Invitational Friday in the WU Field House.

In the first match, ONU fell to host and No. 4-ranked Washington (Mo.) 29-31, 28-30, 20-30 to fall to 4-1 on the season.

Offensively, sophomore Liz Schnelle, who was the AVCA Player of the Week last week, led the way with 14 kills and three aces.

Junior Samantha Markham had nine kills while senior All-American Laura Vuyk chipped in with eight kills.

Junior setter Katie Weininger dished out 35 assists to go along with six kills. Sophomore Mandi Fought recorded a team-high 20 digs.

Washington (5-0) had three players record double-figure kills, led by Nikki Morrison with 17. Haleigh Spencer and Ali Alberts added 11 kills and 10 kills respectively.

In match number two, the Bears suffered a similar fate falling 19-30, 28-30, 29-31 to No. 12 Concordia (Minn.).

ONU, now 4-2, was led by Vuyk's third double-double of the season, with 11 kills and 13 digs.

Schnelle added nine kills and freshman Abby Schaller chipped in with seven kills.

Weininger had 31 assists while Fought recorded 19 digs as well as Renee Berry who recorded 10 digs.

ONU will play Central (Iowa) Saturday morning at 11 am and then take on No. 2 Wittenberg at 1:30 pm to conclude play at the Washington Invitational.