Volleyball: OAC Tournament Finals - #18 Ohio Northern (27-4 Overall) at Otterbein (28-3 Overall)
Saturday, Nov. 4, 2017, 2 pm - Rike Center, Westerville, Ohio - OAC Tournament Finals
Saturday's Preview: For the second consecutive season, the Ohio Northern volleyball team has been named a Regular Season OAC Champion ... The Polar Bears own the No. 2 seed in this year's OAC Tournament after tying with Otterbein in the regular season standings ... Ohio Northern is seeking its 20th OAC Tournament championship on Saturday ... Northern is making its 26th appearance in the championship game in the tournaments 35-year history ... The Polar Bears defeated Heidelberg in a 5-set thriller in 2016 to claims its first OAC Tournament Title since 2009 ... Northern enters the contest after sweeping Mount Union 3-0 in the semifinals of the OAC Tournament ... Sophomore Chelsea Huppert had 13 kills and six blocks, senior Haley Potters had 11 kills and four blocks and sophomore McKenna Jordan chipped in nine kills and a team-best nine digs to lead Ohio Northern ... Huppert currently leads the team and is third in the OAC with 368 kills, while Jordan is second on the team and fourth in the OAC with 348 kills ... Wade currently leads the team and ranks second in the OAC with 1,229 assists, the second best freshman mark in the category in ONU history ... Nieszala currently leads the team and ranks second in the OAC with 540 digs ... Huppert leads the OAC with 120 total blocks, while senior Haley Potter ranks second in the conference with 104 blocks ... Potters' 38 service aces currently ranks second in the conference ... Otterbein enters the contest as the No. 1 seed in the tournament and an OAC Regular Season Co-Champ with Ohio Northern ... Otterbein is making its 20th appearance in the Ohio Athletic Conference Tournament ... The Cardinals are making their second appearance in the tournament title game in school history ... OU won the OAC Tournament Title in 2012 ... Otterbein is coming off of a 3-0 sweep over Heidelberg in the semifinal round of the OAC Tournament ... Junior Hadley Sterett led the way with a match-high 16 kills ... Junior Andrea Miller dished out a game-best 43 assists, while sophomore Ashlyn Leon had a game-high 14 digs ... Senior Morgan Lowenkamp and Sterett currently rank 1-2 in the OAC in kills, with 389 and 377 kills, respectively ... Miller currently leads the conference with a league-best 1,251 assists ... Defensively, Leon leads the team and ranks third in the OAC with 524 digs ... Junior Alana King-Mendenhall and Lowenkamp rank 1-2 on the team and 3-4 in the OAC in total blocks, with 102 and 87 blocks, respectively ... Freshman Hillary Sterett's 36 service aces leads the team and ranks third in the conference.
ONU Statistical Leaders:
| Kills | Blocks | Aces | Digs | Assists | ||||||||||||||
| 1. | Huppert | 368 | 1. | Huppert | 120 | 1. | Potters | 38 | 1. | Nieszala | 540 | 1. | Wade | 1,229 | ||||
| 2. | Jordan | 348 | 2. | Potters | 104 | 2. | Langston | 33 | 2. | Hostetler | 443 | 2. | Nieszala | 71 | ||||
| 3. | Potters | 274 | 3. | Wade | 38 | 3. | Wade | 28 | 3. | Langston | 311 | 3. | Broering | 31 |
All-Time Series: ONU is 49-6 all-time against Otterbein after falling in a 5-set thriller during the regular season ... Northern owns a 19-3 record in the series when playing on the road and is 5-1 all-time against the Cardinals in the OAC Tournament.
Head Coach Kate Witte: Witte is in her 27th season as head coach with a 691-225 record, a winning percentage of .754 ... She is the all-time winningest coach in ONU volleyball history.