Volleyball splits against Christopher Newport (Va.), Mount Saint Joseph to close out Mount Saint Joseph Invitational

By Wes Mayberry

CINCINNATI — The Ohio Northern volleyball team closed out play in the Mount Saint Joseph Invitational on Saturday by splitting a pair of games against Christopher Newport (Va.) and Mount Saint Joseph at the Harrington Center.

The Polar Bears opened the day with a 3-1 loss to Christopher Newport before rebounding for a 3-1 win over Mount Saint Joseph.

CNU defeated Northern 20-25, 25-11, 25-23, 25-21.

ONU defeated MSJ 25-19, 18-25, 25-17, 25-15.

Sophomore Erin Wagner (Massillon/Perry) led the way for Northern, recording a combined 28 kills in the two games.

The Polar Bears (10-4 overall) got out to a strong start against the Captains (8-8 overall), building a 22-14 lead in the first set en route to the 25-20 victory.

CNU responded in a big way in the second set, however, as an 18-8 edge turned into the 25-11 win.

The teams battled to a 15-all tie in a tightly contested third set, which featured five more tie scores down the stretch. With the score at 23-all, CNU tallied two straight points on kills for the win.

The Captains opened the fourth set with a 14-7 run before ONU rallied to get back within three at 23-20. But CNU scored two of the final three points to clinch the match.

Wagner tallied a team-high 12 kills for ONU to go with seven from junior Kaidie Carstensen (Raymond/Fairbanks) and six from junior Ava Ehlinger (New Carlisle/Tecumseh).

Sophomore Rachel Jennings (Novi, Mich.) led ONU with 21 digs, and freshman Caroline Hensley (Loveland/Bishop Fenwick) had a team-best 20 assists.

Maddie Carter led CNU with 15 kills.

ONU hit .141 for the match with 41 kills and 23 errors on 128 attacks, while CNU hit .243 with 55 kills and 22 errors on 136 attacks. The Captains also tallied 13 blocks.

The Polar Bears got out to another strong start in their second game of the day, taking a 17-10 lead in the opening set against Mount Saint Joseph (10-4 overall) en route to the 25-19 victory.

After dropping the second set 25-18, Northern scored five of the first six points in the third. The Lions answered to tie the score at 8-all, but ONU put together a 10-1 run to take an 18-9 edge. That run spurred Northern to the eventual 25-17 victory.

The Polar Bears closed out the match with a well-played fourth set that saw them jump out to leads of 17-10 and 21-12 en route to the 25-15 victory capped by a kill from Wagner.

Wagner finished with 16 kills to lead ONU to go with 13 from sophomore Sonia Dahlin (Minnetonka, Minn.) and seven from Carstensen.

Jennings tallied 25 digs to go with 10 each from senior Lea McFadden (Chillicothe/Paint Valley) and junior Grace Irmer (Indianapolis, Ind./Roncalli).

Sophomore Grace Conrad (Somerset/Sheridan) added 35 assists.

Brooke Aselage led the Lions with 13 kills.

ONU hit .181 for the match with 43 kills and 17 errors on 144 attacks, while MSJ hit .144 with 50 kills and 28 errors on 153 attacks.

The Polar Bears return to the court on Wednesday for a road game at No. 8 Wittenberg at 7 p.m.