Volleyball wins 35th Annual ONU Invitational with perfect 4-0 record
By Tim Glon
ADA — The Ohio Northern volleyball team won the 35th Annual ONU Invitational with a perfect 4-0 record, finishing the tournament with a thrilling 25-18, 27-25, 20-25, 23-25, 15-8 victory over Ohio Athletic Conference rival Heidelberg Saturday afternoon at the ONU Sports Center.
ONU (4-0) went undefeated in the tournament, while Heidelberg and DePauw (Ind.) finished tied for second with 2-1 records.
Sophomore Ellie Gillespie was named the tournament's MVP and freshman Kelli Weininger was also named to the All-Tournament Team for the Polar Bears.
Gillespie had 15 kills and Weininger had 13 kills for ONU against the Student Princes.
The Polar Bears won the first two sets, hitting .282 in the process with 31 kills against only 11 errors on 71 attempts.
But Heidelberg battled back to win Sets 3 and 4 to tie the match.
In the fifth and final set, raced to leads of 3-0 and 6-2 before HU again rallied to within 6-5.
A 3-0 run, keyed by a kill from sophomore Kaitlann Hogrefe, put ONU in command up 10-6.
The Polar Bears would score the match's final three points to secure the victory.
Sophomore Heather Saunier dished out 45 assists and Gillespie had a team-high 22 digs for ONU.
Heidelberg was led by Amber Welfle with 19 kills and Stephanie Romie with 11 kills and 35 assists.
The Polar Bears will return to action next weekend at the Washington (Mo.) Invitational, where ONU will face No. 7-ranked Washington (Mo.), No. 3-ranked Wittenberg and No. 10-ranked Pacific Lutheran (Wash.)