No. 11 Volleyball wins 5-set thriller at Ohio Wesleyan to improve to 5-0
By Wes Mayberry
DELAWARE — Trailing two sets to none on the road, the 11th-ranked Ohio Northern volleyball team never wavered, coming all the way back for an 18-25, 22-25, 25-20, 26-24, 15-10 victory over Ohio Wesleyan on Wednesday at Branch Rickey Arena.
The win improved the Polar Bears to 5-0 to start the 2021 season while dropping the Battling Bishops to 2-3.
ONU got a match-high 18 kills from senior Melina Woods (Ada) and 31 digs from senior Hannah Irmer (Indianapolis, Ind./Roncalli).
The Polar Bears also got 47 assists from senior Kiki Carle (Cincinnati/Mother of Mercy) and four blocks from freshman Taylor Baxter (Bellevue).
Abby Thierauf recorded a game-high 56 assists for the Battling Bishops, who also got 25 digs from Neah White and 15 kills from Paige Hale.
Ohio Wesleyan came out hot, hitting .351 to ONU's .156 in the opening set. Leading 20-18, the Bishops went on to score the final five points of the set to win 25-18.
Neither team was able to create much separation in the second set, which saw ONU and OWU battle to a 22-all score. But, similar to the first set, the Bishops closed strong, scoring the final three points to put them one set away from winning the match.
Unfazed, the Polar Bears came out strong in the third set, taking a 5-1 edge. ONU maintained control throughout the remainder of the set en route to a 25-20 win to stave off defeat.
The fourth was yet another tightly contested set featuring 11 tie scores. A kill from sophomore Kassie Bowmar (Sunbury/Big Walnut) put Northern up 25-24, and the Polar Bears won the set on the next point via an OWU attack error to force the fifth-set tiebreaker.
The comeback energized the Polar Bears, as they opened the final set by scoring the first five points. That stretch included kills from Bowmar and sophomore Sydney Eggleton (Southfield, Mich./Farmington) as well as a pair of service aces from Carle.
A kill from freshman Emma Strozewski (Lakeville, Minn./North) followed by a pair of OWU attack errors put ONU up 12-6.
The Bishops fought back to within 14-10 before Bowmar provided the match-winning kill for the Polar Bears.
Ohio Northern hit .200 for the match with 61 kills and 23 errors on 190 attempts.
Ohio Wesleyan hit .171 in the match with 64 kills and 30 errors on 199 attempts.
ONU will look to extend its unbeaten start to the season when it returns to the court on Friday at 8 p.m. to take on the tournament hosts in the Illinois Wesleyan Invitational in Bloomington, Ill. Their Invitational schedule also includes a Saturday doubleheader against Rose-Hulman (Ind.) at 11 a.m. and Monmouth (Ill.) at 1 p.m.