Volleyball falls in three sets at #11 Mount Union in OAC Tournament Semifinals
By Tim Glon
ALLIANCE -- Ohio Northern saw its Ohio Athletic Conference Volleyball Tournament run come to an end in three sets at No. 11-ranked Mount Union Thursday night at the MAAC.
The fifth-seeded Polar Bears end their season with a 19-10 record after falling 25-17, 25-20, 25-21 in the semifinals of the OAC Tournament.
The top-seeded Purple Raiders advance to the OAC Tournament finals with a 27-5 record and will host second-seeded John Carroll on Saturday at 2 pm.
Sophomore Kristin Sessler led Ohio Northern with seven kills, junior Ellie Gillespie had six kills and sophomore Claire Heitkamp added five kills.
UMU was led by Nicole Snyder with 14 kills.
The Purple Raiders jumped to a quick 7-1 lead in Set 1. The lead grew to 20-10 until a 3-0 run by ONU stemmed the tide, but UMU held on for the 25-17 opening set win.
Northern had seven kills and only four errors and hit .075 for the set, while Mount Union had 15 kills with seven errors and hit .167.
The Polar Bears came out hitting in Set 2, as they had 11 kills on just 22 swings and led 14-11 midway through the set.
With ONU ahead 19-18, UMU closed out the set on a 7-1 run to take the set 25-20.
Ohio Northern ended the set with 12 kills and a .194 hitting percentage, while Mount Union hit .333 with 17 kills in the set.
The Purple Raiders came out hot again in Set 3, racing to a 6-1 lead. A 6-1 run extended the lead to 15-6 before Northern again rallied.
A kill by Hogrefe got ONU with 16-12 and a kill by Sessler got ONU within 24-21 before UMU closed out the match 25-21.
"We really struggled with service receive tonight," ONU head coach Kate Witte said. "When we were up 14-11 in the second set there was hope, but Mount went on a run and closed that set out and we were in trouble. Mount Union is a very good team and they dominated us tonight."
Ohio Northern hit .104 for the match with 28 kills and 18 errors and Mount Union hit .210 with 45 kills and 19 errors.