Volleyball defeats Ohio Wesleyan in four sets to claim 2022 home opener
By Tim Glon
ADA — Senior Melina Woods (Ada) had 15 kills and sophomore Erin Wagner (Massillon/Perry) added 14 kills as the Ohio Northern volleyball team opened the home portion of its schedule with a 24-26, 25-17, 25-23, 25-23 victory over Ohio Wesleyan on Tuesday night at the ONU Sports Center.
The Polar Bears improve to 3-1 on the young season, while the Battling Bishops fall to 1-4.
Sophomore Sonia Dahlin (Minnetonka, Minn.) added a career-high 11 kills, sophomore Grace Conrad (Somerset/Sheridan) had a career-high 27 assists and senior Hannah Irmer (Indianapolis, Ind./Roncalli) had 23 digs for ONU.
OWU was led by Eliza Richardson with 14 kills and Melissa Murray with 13 kills.
Northern led 24-21 in the opening set, only to see the visitors close on a 5-0 run to win 26-24.
Leading 17-15 in Set 2, ONU went on an 8-2 run to win the set 25-17 and even the match at 1-1.
In set three, the hosts led 20-15 when OWU rallied with an 8-3 run to tie the match at 23-all.
Back-to-back kills by Dahlin gave ONU the final two points and 25-23 victory.
Ohio Wesleyan looked on the way to evening the match, racing to an 11-5 lead in Set 4.
But Ohio Northern answered with a 13-2 run to grab an 18-13 lead.
The Bishops rallied to tie the match at 20-all. ONU would score four of the next five points to go back ahead 24-21 and a kill by Wagner ended the match at 25-23.
Northern hit .293 for the match with 57 kills and only 16 errors, while Wesleyan hit .174 with 52 kills and 26 errors.
The Polar Bears will return to action Friday and Saturday with three matches at the Berry (Ga.) Invitational, including a 7 pm contest Friday night against the No. 11-ranked hosts.
